


Star Crossed

by Nesh



Series: Spannerverse [1]
Category: Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Earth, F/M, Non-Canon Relationship, Resurrection, Spannerverse, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-15 03:25:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2214024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nesh/pseuds/Nesh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of the Spannerverse Multiverse.  Galen Marek died on the Death Star but he refused to stay dead. The ripples from this decision land him on Earth and only one person can help him find his new path: A reborn Vin, that is if the Mistborn and Jedi can survive this new world and their pasts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ripples

**Chapter 1: Ripples**

Galen Marek found himself in a dark abyss. Just where was he? The last thing he remembered was making a Force explosion to help the rebellious senators escape from the Death Star and the Emperor. After that… he was here.

"Hello son," Galen whirled around and would indeed find a man with graying brown hair that could only be his father, the Jedi, Kento Marek.

"Father," he asked shakily but you're supposed to be…"

"Dead? I am, and so are you Galen, I couldn't be more proud son. You fulfilled your role in the living world; you will be a martyr that will be the rallying symbol for the Rebellion. The Sith and their Empire will fall because of you, albeit indirectly."

"I'm… dead, no! That can't be Kota, PROXY… Juno, they need me, I have to go back!" The younger of the two was beginning to panic.

"That's not how it works Galen, you lived your life, now it is time for you to join the Force, just like I have; I am only here to guide you. Put your mind at rest son and submit to the will of the Force, your task is complete. In the Force I can see all because it flows through all, everything will be fine." Kento pleaded. Galen locked eyes with the spirit remnant of his father.

"No father, I'm done being a tool, it's how I spent most of my life as a tool for Vader, and apparently the Force, you may say my task is done, the Force my say my task is done but _I_ say I'm not done, I refuse to submit to any will but my own." With that he began to walk away from Kento, and the Force's grip on his soul began to loosen as he reconnected with his body.

"Galen stop! You don't know what you're doing, you're defying nature! There's no telling what could happen to you if you continue on this course, come back!" The cries of the father fell on deaf ears, as the Force rippled around Galen's soul. The pain the young Jedi felt was excruciating as if his entire being was aflame. Still he pressed on and as he did so he thought of everyone who needed him, Kota, PROXY and most of all of Juno. He _had_ to get back, it didn't matter if all of creation was against him; Galen Marek was going to make his own destiny. With one final agonizing Herculean push that actually elicited a scream from the young Jedi, white light consumed him as the Force wailed at the defiance, sending ripples like tsunamis through its domain.

 

* * *

 

 

On the Planet Kamino, a single being writhed in agony. This disturbance in the Force was tearing apart his mind. He kept getting flashes of foreign images, a primitive blue and green planet, orbiting a yellow star. The third in its system, inhabited by humans. He knew these were not the memories of his template Galen Marek like the other flashes he'd had in the past but they were undoubtedly connected to him, the clone could feel it.

"Galen Marek has returned." was all he could muster. Darth Vader hovered over the clone of his secret apprentice, stone faced.

"That should be impossible and yet I too feel that your template has returned. No doubt he will search out Captain Juno Eclipse. You must find her first and take on the guise of your template, turn his friends against him. He will come running to them and when he does you will destroy him." the Sith Lord instructed. The ripples in the Force subsiding some, the clone was able to stand and then get into a proper kneeling position before Darth Vader.

"Yes Master." the clone knew his template would be unable to get to Captain Eclipse, if his visions of the primitive planet were anything to go by, but he dared not contradict his Master who was obviously not privy to them. Lest he be cut down on the spot. Still he would fulfill his mission and destroy his template, what right did the dead have coming back to life? Juno should be his, after all he was everything his template was and Galen Marek was supposed to be dead. As much as his Master told him to cut all ties to his template's life Captain Juno Eclipse still was prominent in his mind, he _wanted_ her and there was still the off chance that Galen could get to her and then he would lose everything… No. The clone had made up his mind; he would destroy Galen Marek and usurp his life.

"Your codename when in communication with me shall be Mavick. Rise, my apprentice" Vader boomed. He would do as commanded.

"Mavick." Mavick tested his new name out, it would have to do, until his mission was over and then he would be Galen Marek as he was meant to be.

 

* * *

 

In a far corner of the multiverse the ripples of the return of Galen Marek reached a certain former Terrisman. Sazed frowned or rather felt like he frowned; now that he was God of Scadrial he wasn't a physical being anymore but more like sentient energy. This… disturbance, whatever it was troubled him greatly. The former Terrisman stretched out his admittedly impressive faculties to investigate the disturbance. Sazed wasn't used to being God yet but he still had to do the job. He analyzed the ripples tracing them back through time and space, as in this realm neither had any true meaning, to a far off planet called Earth in the Sol system of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Keepers had kept detailed astronomical records, and since he'd dumped all the information from his Copperminds into his new God mind as the Hero of Ages, he had ready access to them.

Sazed focused further trying to pinpoint the exact location of the disturbance but was unable to, although he did narrow it down to a very small area on the planet. The deeper he delved the deeper his frown became; it was as if these ripples were telling him something, something only he could hear. Sazed puzzled out the meaning, he was supposed to send someone to that planet. No, not just someone, Vin. He was supposed to send Vin to Earth and he didn't have the foggiest idea why. He only knew that if it required she who had killed gods to be brought back and sent to this place, it could not be good. He was not looking forward to telling her, for that meant separating her from Elend.

Vin chased Elend letting out an uncharacteristic giggle as she followed after her husband one Elend Venture, yeah sure they both died fighting Ruin but heaven wasn't bad at all the sky was blue, the sun was yellow and the flowers were always in bloom. Not to mention she didn't have anything better to do than chase Elend through the trees all day. Actual trees and no ash falling from the sky, yeah not a bad afterlife, although Vin did get a little bored sometimes. The female Mistborn had just caught her husband when an unexpected visitor arrived.

"Saze, what are you doing here, come to see Twindyl again?" Elend asked giving his old friend a smile.

"No, unfortunately I need to talk to Mistress Vin." Vin frowned slightly at that, now that Sazed was God he had no real reason to call her mistress but old habits die hard as she knew all too well.

"What is it you need to talk to me about Saze?" Vin inquired, having a somewhat bad feeling about this.

"I feel it is prudent for you to return to the world of the living. You are needed."

"What, why?" Vin asked in shock, sure she missed the life of a Mistborn sometimes but she never expected to actually go back to it.

"There has been a disturbance in the fabric of time and space somewhere far away, a planet called Earth, so powerful it reached even me, as I investigated, I felt an overwhelming prompt, I think to send you there to solve some sort of crisis." the former Keeper of Terris answered.

"So when are we leaving for this Earth?" Elend asked. Sazed shook his head sadly.

"You are not going Elend, only Mistress Vin. That is the way it must be, I think."

" _What_ ," Vin was incredulous, "You want me to leave my husband and heaven, I'm finally at peace."

"I'm sorry but my instincts tell me this is so and the instincts of God are greater than the facts and feelings of men." Sazed said in a sadly philosophical way. It took a moment but Vin relented.

"Alright Saze, send me to this disturbance."

"I cannot send you directly to it but I can place you in the general area and give you the ability to sense it out." Vin nodded and turned to her husband.

"Tell the others I said goodbye and that I'll be back, especially Kelsier and Mare." Vin felt bad not personally saying goodbye to her former mentor and his wife but it seemed she had little choice in the matter.

"I will." Elend promised as his wife began to blink out.

"Do not worry I will be watching and will send help if you need it." Sazed told her as she vanished.

 

* * *

 

 

Galen awoke on something hard and Sithspawn did he have headache. The young Jedi stood up shakily and inspected the ground gray and smooth, concrete? That would mean he was on some sort of civilized planet, industrial as well, it would likely have a spaceport of some kind. However every other shred of evidence pointed to something much more… primitive. The technology he could see was far below even the most backwater planets in the galaxy. The people from what he could tell spoke Basic which was a good sign but their vehicles actually traveled on the ground instead of the sky and were highly polluting if the smoke billowing out of them was an indication. Just where was he? On the bright side he had his body and equipment back, on the not so bright side he was likely marooned on an alien planet because from what he'd seen so far, the inhabitants had likely not discovered the hyperdrive, although that warranted further investigation. Galen began to walk to walk down the sidewalk slowly taking in the noise of car horns and various curse words/. He despaired even more when he saw a man pedaling a two wheeled ground vehicle. This planet's low level of technology was maddening. Finally Galen came across a news stand and grabbed one of the things being sold there. It was some form of written document, the text was written the characters of the High Galactic Alphabet, which read much the same as Basic but with different characters, the script alone implied this was some sort of sacred document as that was what the High Galactic Alphabet was used for but as he skimmed the text Galen quickly divined that the _Philadelphia Tribune_ was _not_ a sacred text but a source of news. Just what kind of people were these? The musings would have to wait as the young Jedi felt a powerful Force presence heading his way.

"No sense in running." he muttered.

 

* * *

 

 

Vin appeared in the middle of the street, of course she didn't know that and proceeded to check her supplies. Mistcloak, two glass daggers, and a full coin pouch. Good. She downed one of the vials and just in time too, instinctively pewter, iron and steel flared to life in her. She had to find a way to avoid these strange metal things that were moving at high speeds around her, but the large tangle of blue lines, more than she'd ever seen in one place, was confusing her. It seemed there was a metal source below her that weighed quite a bit more than she did. _"Who buries metal?"_ Vin thought as she Pushed against it with steel, flying upward and getting a shocked look from the person inside. Wait, person was that thing some sort of horseless carriage? It was definitely faster than a horse. Just what kind of place had she landed in? Vin's mind locked on to the disturbance thanks to the sense Sazed had given her, she followed it like a bronze pulse as she Pushed and Pulled her way through the city.

So much metal and buildings taller than she'd ever seen all made of it, not to mention the abundant amount of horseless carriages that also used metals in construction and the underground sources. Whatever this place was, Vin _liked i_ t, it was like a Mistborn's playground. While soaring through the skyline Vin was able to ignore the gawking crowds, for it was not every day the people of Philadelphia got to observe a Mistborn or any kind of Allomancer for that matter, and focus on the mission at hand. She was almost on top of the disturbance now, so Vin dropped to the ground. Why did she get the feeling this mission would become another big fight?


	2. Encounters

**Chapter 2: Encounters**

Galen did something akin to a double take when he saw a woman drop from above. She was dressed oddly for this world, her outfit was something like a Force user would wear, black to blend in, not baggy or restricting. The strangest part was the cloak she wore. It was some sort of greyish-white color, solid at the shoulders but then it split into many individual ribbons, to put it simply the rogue Jedi had never seen anything like it.

The woman seemed to be looking for something, or rather someone as she paused upon sighting him. He finally got a good look at her face as they locked eyes. He knew that face, the logical part of his mind told him that he was wrong, that the hair and eyes were the wrong color but that face…

"Juno?" he called out. The woman gave him a questioning look as she was obviously not who Galen thought she might have been. She shook her head.

"No, my name is Vin," Vin replied, "and you're the anomaly." That snapped Galen out of his trance rather quickly. The Jedi gave her another once over, her presence in the Force was strong, a Jedi herself perhaps? The Force may have sent her here to drag him back.

"I have no interest in rejoining the Force, Vin was it?" Galen declared.

"The Force? What are you talking about? I was sent here to investigate some sort of disturbance in space-time, whatever that means, but I wasn't expecting a human. I honestly don't know what to do with you." Vin admitted.

"You're presence in the Force is strong, I find it hard to believe you are not a Jedi, or perhaps even Vader's newest assassin." Galen replied bluntly, activating his blue bladed lightsaber. It had once been the weapon of the master who had taught him the ways of the Light Side of the Force, one Rahm Kota. The original crystal had been green but Galen had replaced it with the crystal that had once resided in the saber of his father, Jedi Knight Kento Marek. Galen swung the blade at Vin, who dodged it with surprising ease even for a Jedi.

"Impressive reflexes, very much like ones a Force user would have." he remarked.

"A very useful metal, pewter," the young woman replied. This only served to confuse Galen as he had never heard of any metal called pewter and had no idea what any kind of metal had to do with Vin's incredible dexterity. "Not as useful as iron though." she continued. Darth Vader's former apprentice suddenly found a force pulling on the hilt of his lightsaber, the blade would've zoomed into Vin's waiting hand had Galen not quickly applied a telekinetic grip to counteract it. For someone who claimed to have no idea what a Jedi was she seemed to have many powers comparable to one.

" _This Vin woman has clearly been lying through her teeth,"_ Galen mused to himself, _"That is the way of the Sith, she must've been sent by Vader or the Emperor to eliminate me. However I turned away from the Dark Side, perhaps there is hope for her, she has not fallen yet; I sense that she would make a powerful Jedi."_

"You don't have to serve the Empire Vin. Vader and the Emperor will only betray as they did me. They may have taught you to access the Force but they have not taught you how to use it properly. I was their tool as you are, I learned the ways of the Sith but I turned away from the darkness. You are not yet corrupted Vin; I can help you become the Jedi you are meant to be." She looked at him as if he had sprouted a second head.

"How many times do I have to tell you I have no idea what you are talking about? I don't know any Vader, I don't know what Jedi or Sith are, and I don't know what the Force is." she insisted. Galen sighed, years under the tutelage of Darth Vader had made him slightly paranoid, especially after two betrayals. Perhaps she _was_ telling him the truth and she really had no idea what he was talking about. That still left some crucial questions to be answered however.

"Your powers, you claim to know nothing of the Force and yet you have powers much like those versed in its use. What is the origin of your abilities?"

 

* * *

 

 

Vin paused at his question, unsure of how she should answer. After all she knew nothing of this man. He could be some sort of spy or assassin or any number of other things. Was it safe to tell him of her Allomancy, was it was safe to assume that this man knew nothing of the power as he hadn't identified her as a Mistborn by the mistcloak she wore or was this all part of an act to glean information from her? To top it all off Vin had been sent by Sazed to find and deal with this man, true she hadn't been expecting a man when she arrived, but here he was.

The Mistborn was at a loss as to what to do at the moment. This man was an anomaly in space-time, or so Sazed said, Vin didn't have the foggiest idea what that meant or even what space-time _was_. What options did she have? She could kill him but he'd already resisted her Ironpull on his weapon somehow and then there was the weapon itself, some sort of sword with a blade made of light. Vin had certainly never seen or heard of anything like it. Just how dangerous was that weapon? What could it do?

Again Vin pondered just killing the man, her metals were already burning, thank the Lord Ruler, otherwise he likely would've gotten her with that light sword of his earlier. Vin had been sent to deal with an anomaly and he was the anomaly so killing him made sense. Plus he'd already attacked her, so it wasn't as if any action on her part would be unprovoked. Then again that had only been a sort of test apparently.

The Mistborn looked her potential opponent over. He was tall, he had an entire foot on Vin, although she was only about five foot tall herself. He didn't seem very strong physically, although her childhood in the underground of the Final Empire had taught her not to judge anyone by appearance. His build did seem slightly athletic however and he seemed to handle that strange light blade of his well enough. A soldier of some kind perhaps? Vin didn't like it but she knew what she had to do, she had to kill him. This man had to die, she'd been sent to deal with a distortion in the universe and he was that anomaly, it was as simple as that. She really hated being the aggressor, she wasn't Kelsier or Zane, she couldn't just kill like they could but it seemed there wasn't much choice.

Vin began to reach for her daggers but before she could even move her hands the Mistborn felt something slam into her chest and knock her off her feet. The man went into a battle stance as she stood back up an unsheathed her daggers.

"So that's the way it's going to be?" the man said it was more a statement than a question.

"How did you know what I was going to do?" Vin hadn't even moved before he started defending himself, just what was this man?

"I could sense your intentions through the Force." he said

"Unfortunately this is the way it has to be, I was sent to deal with you. Just one thing before we start, may I ask your name? I'm not normally the aggressor and I guess I just want to show some amount of respect because I'm attacking you out of nowhere." she replied.

"My enemies call me Starkiller." he responded. Starkiller charged her swinging his light sword at her. Vin kept jumping back using her pewter enhanced speed to dodge. Unfortunately it seemed she was going to run into some sort of metal pole. She Pushed against a buried bit of metal to jump into the air just as her opponent made what would've been a fatal swing. Vin cleared the blade and used her iron to Pull herself on to a ledge on one of the large buildings nearby. Vin watched in horror as the weapon Starkiller was using cleaved through the metal pole like it was nothing.

" _I definitely don't want that thing to hit me,"_ she mused, _"If it can cut through metal that easily a solid shot will kill me whether I'm burning pewter or not."_ Suddenly her pair of glass daggers seemed very silly and ineffective. Vin untied her coin pouch and reached in pulling out a handful of copper coins, clips the smallest denomination of coin in the former Final Empire; Sazed hadn't sent her to Earth unprepared for combat. Vin burned steel and Pushed on the coins, angling them down toward Starkiller. The coins zipped out at lethal speeds toward the man but Starkiller seemed rather unconcerned by this, merely sticking a hand out. The coins stopped in midair and Vin was thrown backwards, pressed against the building on which she stood, only her pewter allowed her to keep standing despite the force pressing against her. Was this man an Allomancer? If so, he was a Coinshot at the very least. Steelpushes and Ironpulls were all about weight and force and something had most definitely stalled her Push.

Vin burned bronze but could feel no Allomantic pulses coming from Starkiller; of course he might have been burning copper to hide his Allomancy from her as part of his ruse. Vin smirked; she could feel the familiar presence of the earring her mother gave her. Sazed had really gone all out. This particular earring was a small Hemalurgic spike, carrying her baby sister's power to burn bronze. Vin's mother had killed her sister and given her this earring under Ruin's influence so that it would be able to influence Vin later in life, or so Sazed had explained.

Thinking about Ruin's manipulations made her frown; that thing had cost so many people their lives. Vin, Elend, most of the members of Kelsier's crew, all of them had died because of Ruin's schemes but that wasn't important right now. Sazed was God now, only he could speak to her through this earring. Vin turned her full attention back to the fight and flared her bronze, calling on the power she gained from the Hemalurgic earring to pierce any nearby Copperclouds, still no pulses could be hard from Starkiller.

" _This man isn't an Allomancer, Mistborn or otherwise,"_ Vin realized with shock. Vin let go of the coins as did Starkiller apparently, as the money falling harmlessly to the ground, _"What is he, he has powers like a Mistborn but doesn't burn any metals?"_ Curiosity got the better of Vin and she jumped off the building, dropping a coin and Pushing against it to slow her decent. The Mistborn approached Starkiller once more.

"You're not a Mistborn, your powers are similar but you don't burn metals. What are you exactly? I know you're not a Feruchemist either, you wouldn't have been able to push my coins back like that." Vin said. She made no moves that could be considered hostile as in all honesty she wanted a peaceful solution anyway.

"I am a Jedi, a user of the Force as I already told you," Starkiller said, "and you were safer on that building." He swung at her with the light sword again. He was fast, the strikes came quickly flowing from one to the next; this man was obviously well trained in the use of his weapon. Starkiller's reflexes were incredible, faster than any normal human for certain but Vin, by use of her pewter was faster still.

The battle continued like this for some time. Starkiller was unable to hit Vin due to her superior speed and agility but she was also unable to hit him, whether it be with her daggers or coins, he would either dodge or push them away respectively. It was almost as if this man could see where her attacks would come from. Given Vin's experience with atium she certainly didn't consider such a possibility out of the question. Although judging by his inability to hit her with that light sword of his it seemed precognition was one area where Allomancy outshined his Force.

"Look, maybe we can find a way to resolve this peacefully, I really don't _want_ to hurt you but I don't know what to do with you Starkiller." Vin pleaded, still dodging his attacks with pewter only, she didn't dare use iron and steel she didn't want this escalating into a full blown battle again. Vin burned brass, the first metal she'd ever burned, the one that had let her survive years in the Final Empire's underground. Brass was the emotional external Pushing metal; it allowed Vin to Soothe or dampen the emotions she chose in others, allowing her to make a person more likely to do what she wanted. Vin's touch was subtle; Starkiller likely wouldn't be able to discern that she was manipulating him. She Soothed his anger and distrust, dampening them, making him less likely to continue the fight.

 

* * *

 

 

Galen calmed down some as Vin offered to find a peaceful solution. He was a Jedi, even if he was one who had only recently rejected the Dark Side. Fighting was meant to be a last resort. He extinguished his lightsaber and took a relaxed but alert posture, just in case. He noticed Vin do the same as she put away her odd glass daggers.

"So what do we do now?" he asked. Vin shrugged.

"How should I know, this isn't my world." She replied.

"Well, it's not my home world either, I am quite certain your coins won't be accepted as legitimate currency here, nor would any money of mine, if I had any. So, survival on this planet for the two of us may prove difficult." He replied.

"Us? So you're willing to work with me then?" Vin asked with some surprise in her tone.

"I probably could survive alone but I really have no desire to. Besides, I'm used to working with people who have tried to kill me." Galen said darkly. Vader had betrayed him twice and nearly killed him several times and his Jedi master, Rahm Kota and been locked in a duel to the death at one point, or at least what was supposed to be one.

"You're a cheery one aren't you?" The Mistborn muttered.

"I try." The Jedi snarked.

"I think we'll get along just fine Starkiller, I spent most of my life working with people I didn't completely trust as well; I've been betrayed, but it doesn't have to be that way."

"If you're serious about finding a solution to this without killing me, then don't call me by that name. As I said Starkiller is what my enemies call me, my… allies call me Galen." he told her.

"Alright then Galen it is. I'm glad you decided to cooperate, because if you had decided to go off on your own I would've just followed you anyway. Since you're the anomaly I was sent here to deal with the least I could do is keep tabs on you." Vin said bluntly. The sound of a siren reached Galen's ears and he noticed a vehicle with red and blue strobe lights coming down the street, the civilians moved away at a brisk pace as the vehicle stopped and two men in blue stepped out. Several more vehicles with similarly dressed owners were close behind. The first man stepped forward.

"You are hereby placed under arrest by the Philadelphia Police Department for disturbing the peace." the driver of the first vehicle declared as he steeped toward Galen and Vin. Now, normally Jedi were the kind of people that would cooperate with law enforcement but Galen had to get off this planet and find his friends, so to put it bluntly being locked up just wasn't an option. He hit the police officer with a Force Push, sending the man skidding back into his car and knocking him out.

"Come quietly or I'll shoot." A nearby officer said as he pulled out his weapon, it looked to be some sort of slug thrower, how primitive. The weapon was ripped from the man and flew into Vin's waiting hand.

"Now what is this, some sort of weapon I assume?" She mused inspecting the slug thrower.

"You are resisting arrest, if you do not desist, we will use force." Galen resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I have no intention of being locked up," He declared, "I have important business to attend to. Now I already knocked out your friend, don't make me do the same to you." A shot rang out. The Jedi cursed, slugs were often faster than blaster bolts and much harder to see. He ignited his lightsaber and brought it up reflexively. However the shot didn't come close enough to do any real damage to either him or Vin. It was likely a warning shot. Galen turned to his Mistborn companion.

"Are you going to help me out with these guys?" he asked. Vin shrugged.

"Well I don't want you to die and I have to keep an eye on you so I don't know what choice I have. Let's just try to leave them alive." she mused. He nodded and used the force to chuck a police officer across the street. The police opened fire.

 

* * *

 

 

Vin sighed, how did she always end up in these situations Metals flared to life in her stomach as she quickly crouched down to make a smaller target. She Pushed against the projectiles being fired from their attackers' weapons but instead of them being pushed back toward the people who fired them, the just got thrown of course flying wild. She used her iron to Pull the weapons away from her attackers, disarming them. She fired the weapon she had taken from one of the men. It was surprisingly simple to operate. She had trouble hitting her targets though as they liked to use their vehicles for cover. She got in a few chest shots but they didn't seem very effective as the men didn't go down.

Vin's weapon ran out of ammunition and she Pushed against one of the buried pieces of metal to give herself lift and Pulled on one of the vehicles creating a graceful arc that landed her among her enemies. Some of them tried to move around Vin and retrieve the weapons she had Pulled away. The Mistborn quickly turned on them with pewter enhanced speed, using her empty gun as a bludgeoning weapon, swinging with the strength pewter provided and aiming for the chest so she didn't actually kill them as she effortlessly dodged between their clubs and odd spays aimed at her face. With each blow she felt ribs shatter. Vin felt a dull pain in her shoulder as one of her opponents, this one a female, stuck up behind her at stuck Vin with her club weapon. Vin whirled around and grabbed the woman's arm, spinning her and tossing her would be attacker into a man that was trying to charge Vin. Judging from the odd angle the would-be attacker's arm was in it seemed Vin had dislocated the woman's shoulder.

The Mistborn watched in amazement as Galen tossed police officers around like rag dolls without even touching them. Vin assumed that this was an application of the same power he'd used to counter her coins. She was even more impressed when she was Galen used the mysterious power to throw one of the _vehicles_ into a nearby building after one of the police officers tried to run him down with it.

" _Just how powerful is he?"_ she wondered.

"This is unit 546 requesting back up, suspects are armed an extremely dangerous. Please send all available units to-" The officer who had been speaking into some sort of communications device was cut off as Vin put one of the coins that were on the ground from her brief scuffle with Galen through his head through a combination of iron and steel. She felt bad about killing the man but he was too far away for her to simply knock out before he could finish his sentence and she really didn't want to fight more of these people.

"Not bad Vin, these guys won't be bothering us any time soon," Galen said appreciatively as he put away his light sword. He hadn't used it in the battle, "Not bad at all." He nodded at the pile of unconscious bodies near Vin.

"You threw their carriage without even touching it. You could've killed me earlier if you wanted to." The Mistborn said in shock. Galen shrugged.

"Yeah maybe I could have but I think the same goes for the reverse, I can tell you've been holding back this entire time. I don't think either of us ever intended to kill the other. As for throwing their vehicle, I'm a Jedi, size means nothing to me." he said.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Vin blurted. She didn't even know why she did it, she knew nothing about this man and he knew nothing of her and here she was asking him to tell her his secrets. True the abilities he'd shown seemed like they could be of use to her but she didn't even know if they _could_ be taught or if Galen would even be receptive to teaching her. Still Vin's instincts told her she could trust Galen, and they were rarely wrong so why not ask?

"I think I might be able to," Galen said after a moment, "I'm not entirely sure but it's worth a shot. I have to warn you though; I've never taught anyone how to tap into the Force before. Tell you what, I'll trade you. I'll teach you how to use the Force if you teach me about your abilities." Vin nodded.

"That seems like a fair trade. Listen, one of them tried to call for back up, we'd better go." Vin Pushed on one of the buried bits of metal and Pulled herself on to a building ledge. She was surprised to see Galen leap on to the ledge and land next to her.

"Let's look for some shelter to stay in." Vin said taking off, Galen stayed right on her heels. The pair moved on like taking down about forty members of the Philadelphia Police Department was normal, and for them something like this actually was.

 

* * *

 

 

Mavick smirked to himself as he entered the _Rogue Shadow_ with Jedi Master Rahm Kota; it had been quite difficult to rescue the man from the arena on Cato Neimoidia; he'd even had to fight a gorog to save his template's Jedi master and keep up the farce. He had memories of this ship from his template, fond memories, memories of Juno. He had expected the woman to be on the bridge but was shocked to find Kota in the pilot's seat.

"Where's Juno?" he asked the blind Jedi.

"I don't know. I lost a whole squad on Cato Neimoidia. Your Alliance is scattered across the Outer Rim. It's falling apart Galen, but with you here we can take the fight to the Empire, show them that we still mean business." Master Kota said.

"We will general," Mavick assured, "but we have to find to Juno first, I need to make sure she's safe. Then there's something very important I need to take care of."

"What could possibly be more important than defeating the Empire?" the blind Jedi asked.

"This _is_ about defeating the Empire. Vader has a new apprentice, he cloned me." Mavick said, inwardly smirking at his inversion of the truth.

"That's impossible, you can't clone Jedi, no one's ever been able to do it." General Kota said incredulously.

"You don't know what I went through on Kamino, I saw him, this clone is real." Mavick insisted. Kota perked up at this.

"Kamino, if you can give us knowledge of the cloning facilities there we could organize a strike-" Mavick cut him off.

"We will but this clone is more important at the moment. If Vader trained him anything like he trained me then he's a danger to the entire Rebel Alliance. He'll likely go after Juno first and I can't let anything happen to her." Kota sighed.

"You're right of course," the blind Jedi relented, "Any idea where this clone is?" Mavick _did_ know where the real Galen Marek was. Alright, so he didn't know the name of the exact location but he would know it if he saw it. The Force was guiding him, supporting him in his quest to rid the universe of his template. Images of stars and planets, of the primitive city the original Galen was in flooded Mavick's driving him onward.

"He's outside this galaxy, on a backwater planet, third from its' star. The Force has shown me the path I must take to reach him so that I may destroy this mockery Vader has created at make the universe safe again." The clone replied.

"Outside the galaxy, we don't have clear hyperspace routes for anything outside this galaxy." Kota protested.

"I know but we're going anyway general. I feel I may need your help; I have been having visions of the future. There is a woman, a powerful woman who will fight alongside this clone of me. Possibly Jedi, possibly something… different. I sense that she is dangerous and must also be defeated if we are to save the galaxy." Mavick added. This part was not a lie; he had indeed had visions of a woman. A woman much like Juno in appearance only with short black hair and brown eyes in place of Juno's long blonde locks and blue eyes. The woman wore an odd whitish grey cloak, solid at the shoulders but then split into hundreds of individual ribbons of fabric as it came down.

This mysterious woman who moved so much like a Jedi had featured prominently in his visions of the future alongside his template. It was as if the future, no, the Force itself was in flux around them. They were important somehow and the Force was guiding Mavick to them as if the destiny of the galaxy rested solely on their destruction.

"I'll help you Galen, for the rebellion's sake and because I am your Jedi master. When do we set out to find this clone?" the old Jedi asked.

"Later, we have to find Juno first; I don't want to take the chance of him finding her before I do. If she's with us I'll be able to protect her." The clone declared. Kota nodded. Mavick smirked inside Kota had been easy to fool, he only hoped Juno was this easy to convince.

 

* * *

 

 

Sazed frowned; he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. The ripples from the anomaly were still coming. He had hoped that Vin would have dealt with this but that did not seem to be the case. Three wormholes had appeared each one leading between some combination of Earth, Scadrial and the galaxy the ripples originated from. The wormholes only seemed to distort space-time more and Sazed was unsure as to why they had appeared.

"What's the matter Saze?" Kelsier asked beside him.

"Lady Vin has not dealt with the anomaly in space-time as of yet," the God replied, "I had hoped that this would be a simple task for a Mistborn of her caliber but this does not seem to be the case."

"I'm not even sure why you sent her there in the first place Saze, it's not like that anomaly has anything to do with us." Elend said from the other side of him.

"Now Lord Venture," a nearby Twindyl cleared her throat reminding Sazed that _he_ was the powerful one here, "Elend, I am not sure why I sent Lady Vin to Earth myself. It was just a feeling, an important one, I think. I believe she is somehow meant to be there. However the feeling of foreboding has only grown since she went to Earth."

"Can't you check up on her or something Sazed, I mean, you are a God after all." Elend suggested. Sazed shook his incorporeal head.

"I am sorry to say such a thing is not possible Elend. The place I sent Lady Vin is covered in metal and I am unable to see clearly through metal."

"You sent her to a place where you can't even watch over her Sazed? I can't believe you would do such a thing." The former emperor growled.

"I understand your frustration Elend. I can contact Lady Vin while she is sleeping if you wish." The former Terrisman attempted to calm his friend.

"That's just not good enough Sazed; I want you to send me down there so that I can help her in her mission. My wife is on an alien world with no allies and I just have to sit here? No Sazed, you _don't_ understand my frustration. Send me to Earth." He demanded only to have Twindyl scowl at him.

"Sazed is a God; you do not give him orders even if you were his ruler in life. Sazed will do what he thinks is best and he has much more knowledge than you Elend Venture." she snapped. Elend went quiet but he still didn't look happy.

"Sazed, Elend does have a point," Kelsier argued, "I know Vin can take care of herself but I am worried about her. It might be a good idea to send one or two of us."

"I do not think that would be wise Master Kelsier, I feel the situation is too delicate to add more elements at this time. The ripples have only grown stronger since I sent Lady Vin; perhaps it is because she was brought back from the dead. If this is the case then sending more of you would only make things worse I think. I will only send you to aid Lady Vin if I feel her need is dire." Sazed explained. Kelsier nodded in thought.

"Yes I can understand you hesitance to send us in when it might only make things worse. Still there is the matter of those wormholes to worry about… I've just got a bad feeling about this Saze." The Survivor of Hathsin mused. Sazed had to agree with that sentiment.

 

* * *

 

 

Vin took in her surroundings: a dusty old warehouse on waterfront. She'd slept in worse places, this was a palace compared to the alleys of the Final Empire; then again she'd lived in a palace for the last few years of her life. She'd have to get used to living like a skaa again. Vin burned off her excess metals and took off her mistcloak before laying down on one of the two cots that was mysteriously inside this warehouse.

" _I'll need to find a place that supplies metals tomorrow."_ she thought to herself. She had no idea what this world was like or what could happen with Galen the walking space-time anomaly walking around. Running out of Allomantic metals wasn't a prospect she liked to consider. For not the first time Vin marveled at how dependent she'd become on Allomancy in just a few years, using metals was almost as simple to her as breathing now. She might have to go without metals for some time now, even if she found a metallurgist she had no money to pay for metals, her coins were no good here. It truly appeared Vin would have to ration her Allomancy for some time, unless she fell back into her old thieving habits that is.

"Get some sleep Vin, your training in the Force starts tomorrow." Galen said opening his eyes after a rather long meditation on the other cot.

"Are you sure I can learn how to become a, what did you call it, Jedi?" Vin asked curiously. Galen nodded.

"Yes you have the potential Vin, I can sense it." he said. Vin was intrigued by these Jedi powers, they were so much like Allomancy, in some ways they seems so much stronger but in some ways they were weaker. They would be very useful but they would never replace her Allomancy.

"We need to find a metallurgist tomorrow." she said. The Jedi gave her a questioning look.

"Why?"

"It has to do with my powers I ingest certain kinds of metal to gain various abilities." Vin explained.

"Interesting, you'll have to tell me more about it tomorrow." Galen replied. The Mistborn nodded. The pair drifted off to sleep without another word.

Vin was surprised to find Sazed waiting for her in her dreams.

"Sazed, what do you need?" she asked the former Terrisman.

"I bring grave news Lady Vin. The anomaly has only gotten worse since I sent you. I must ask why you have not completed your mission yet." he replied. Vin shifted uncomfortably at this.

"It was a man Sazed, I couldn't just kill him; I'm not Kelsier." she told him.

"I understand your feelings Lady Vin but I am not sure this course of action is wise." Sazed said.

"I'm keeping an eye on him; he doesn't seem like a bad person but I'll be careful." The Mistborn assured him.

"Letting him live is dangerous I think, especially with you around him. I fear that by bringing you back to life I have made you into a similar anomaly Lady Vin. Even I cannot tell what could come of this but we must not leave this man unchecked." Sazed explained.

"I won't kill him Sazed, not unless he shows himself to be evil." Vin declared. Sazed nodded.

"I understand."


	3. Preparations and Training

**Chapter 3: Preparations and Training**

"Come on Vin, move faster!"

Vin scowled. Galen was taunting her. Vin barely brought up the barrowed lightsaber in time to block the flying coin, relying on the Force to tell her where the attack was coming from as she was currently blindfolded. She felt sluggish, Galen refused to let her use any sort of Allomancy during her Jedi training. Even with Force enhanced reflexes she felt slow without pewter.

"This isn't easy you know." she said. Her master chuckled.

"It's not supposed to be easy Vin, that's why it's called training. This is a skill you must hone. Trust your instincts my apprentice."

This time Vin chuckled and she even went as far as to smirk. She was a being of instinct right to her very core; it was her instincts that had helped her survive in the underground of the Final Empire, not to mention the various conflicts she'd gotten into after joining Kelsier's crew.

"Trust my instincts? That I know how to do all too well Master." she replied, the title of Master dripping with sarcasm. Vin cleared her mind and let her instincts take over; she now found blocking the projectiles much easier, even with her sluggish, by her standards, reflexes.

"Good, very good but you're not holding the saber quite right and your posture is more akin to a thug holding a metal pipe then what you should be doing. Here, let me show you."

Vin felt Galen step behind her before he began to adjust her grip, holding her wrist and easily dwarfing it with his own. As he began the adjustment the Mistborn had to hold in a gasp.

 _"His hands feel nice…"_ Just where had that thought come from she wondered. It wasn't like her to think such things, at least not about people who weren't Elend. What was going on with her? And then she began to get more distracted...As suddenly, his hands moved on to her hips and down on the outside of her thigh as he moved her leg to the position needed for the stance he wanted her to use, prompting her to blush hotly and hoping by the Lord Ruler that he didn't notice.

"There you go." Galen said stepping away. The coins started coming again and Vin's reactions were a right bit slower than usual due to the distracting thoughts of Galen's hands. One coin hit her leg and a couple more grazed her arms. Vin cried out in dull pain.

"Are you alright Vin? You were doing so well before." Galen asked with a mixture of confusion and concern in his voice as he stopped the exercise. Vin shook her head, trying to clear it.

"I suppose I'm just a little tired." The Mistborn muttered. That was a lie of course, she could have kept going for some time; she hadn't even started feeling fatigue yet. She was really trying to make sense of these odd feelings. She was a married woman, even if her husband was dead, she had been dead herself no more than a week ago. She just had to keep reminding herself that Elend was waiting for her and maybe, hopefully, these feelings would go away.

"I suppose we _have_ been at this awhile. You can take off the blindfold." The Jedi said. The Mistborn did so, though she was somewhat hesitant.

"Well I'm going to try and get some sleep." Vin said faking a yawn she turned away from Galen, perhaps a bit too quickly and made her way to her cot, and tried to sleep. Neither of them had left the waterfront warehouse they were staying in very much this week for fear of being caught by the police. Clever use of Allomancy and Jedi mind tricks in covert night runs had convinced people leaving restaurants to give up their doggy bags but both of them were starting to smell because they had no way to bathe or change clothes. Vin rolled over and dismissed the feelings about Galen as cabin fever as she went to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

Galen sat on his cot feeling rather restless. He knew exactly why as well, the answer was Vin. The woman was amazing, she took to the Force like a fish to water, though she theorized it had something to do with her Allomantic powers being so similar, and she was well practiced with those. All in all Vin was a rather impressive student.

Still it was more than that. Galen felt… awkward around her. He felt… like he did when he was around Juno. Could that be right? After he loved Juno, or at least he thought he loved Juno. Could he be falling for the Mistborn? Galen paused for a moment, he may have been isolated and raised by Darth Vader but even _he_ knew that relations between master and apprentice were, discouraged in the Jedi order anyway; Galen was a Jedi now and he was training Vin to be one.

Then again what did old restrictions penned by dead men matter? Other than Master Kota, he and Vin were the only Jedi left that he knew of. He didn't even know if Kota was alive, Galen realized in this moment that he could be the only full-fledged Jedi left in the universe; he could make the rules now. If he wanted to court Vin he could.

However was he actually free to do so? After all, there was still Juno to consider, they were somewhat involved by his estimation, though he didn't know much about romantic relationships. He didn't even know if Juno was alive or even if he'd ever get off this Force forsaken planet, should he hold out for Juno on the off chance that the answer to both those questions was yes?

Galen glanced at his apprentice. Vin was slight of frame, just over five feet in height, willowy in build; she was anything but imposing. Any warrior Jedi or not would likely underestimate her, she had certainly surprised him with her battle prowess when they first met. However it was more than her combat skill that impressed Galen, she was sharp, observant, and thrifty. The pair of them had only glossed over their pasts with one another, focusing on Vin's training in the Force.

From what he knew she'd been raised on the streets in thieving crews on her home world, using her Allomancy, specifically the metal brass, to survive in the ruthless underground. That is until she was found by the man called Kelsier a legendary thief and Mistborn on her world who had trained her in the ways of the Allomancer. She had joined his crew who toppled the world's God King, this Lord Ruler's death a feat Vin herself had accomplished, then had gone on to defend the new kingdom that was founded from hostile forces, released a being called Ruin that sounded much like the Dark Side of the Force and killed said being. Needless to say Vin's exploits left Galen in awe of the woman.

Yet despite her hard warrior background she displayed an almost child-like wonder at the simplest of things, such as running water. He supposed it was because she was from a planet far more primitive than even this one. Galen found it, what was the word, endearing? She had a natural curiosity as well; she was one of those people who wanted to learn, to observe, and to understand things. Those were healthy qualities in a Jedi, at least in moderation, of course the Jedi were all about moderation.

Again Galen's eyes rested on his new apprentice as he drank in her features. Despite how much her face looked like that of Juno, the pair was strikingly dissimilar in almost every other aspect; both where keenly intelligent but that is where the similarities ended. Juno was tall, with light hair and eyes, while Vin was exactly the opposite. Juno was very busy and curvaceous in body type while Vin, while still feminine and very attractive in terms of looks was much more muted. Juno was very by the book and straightforward in most cases, Vin while blunt was very sarcastic at times, and much more relaxed in terms of protocol. Perhaps the biggest difference was that Juno was normal and Vin had powers, both her Allomancy and her connection to the Force. Vin understood what it was like to wield power, to be someone else's tool, and what it was like to escape that and pave your own destiny. Galen felt like Vin understood him far better than Juno ever could.

The two women in his life were so different, and yet could be used to achieve the same end: his happiness. It was almost as if he were choosing between the Light Side and the Dark Side, the question was, which was which? If one judged off physical appearance and personality traits then Juno was unquestionably closer to being a Light Side analog than Vin was, but that made Vin the Dark Side in this analogy. That thought didn't sit well with Galen, his apprentice being the Dark Side of things; yes she was rough, but ultimately good. No, Vin wasn't the Dark Side, she wasn't shadow, nor was she light. Vin was something different, something new, aggressive without being the aggressor, willing to do what had to be done but not wanting to take life. She was not night or day, but that in between time when Sun is no longer visible but there is still enough light to see. Vin was twilight. That dividing line that took no sides and perhaps, Galen thought, that was just what he needed.

 

* * *

 

 

Amidst the bubbling swamps of the far-flung planet of Degobah lived one of the most infuriating beings Sazed had ever met, one Jedi Master Yoda. Under any other circumstances the pair might have gotten along famously but given the events of the last week the Jedi and God were hardly on friendly terms.

"By sending her made things worse you have." The little green man said in his usual raspy tone. Sazed gave the ancient imp an exasperated look; he could do that now, because of the concentration of the Force on Degobah Sazed was able to create a manifestation similar to what a Jedi would call a Force Ghost. This manifestation looked much like Sazed did in life, though it was more transparent and not at all solid.

"I trust Lady Vin Master Yoda; she will know what to do. She saved my world and she will save your galaxy, Earth, and Scadrial once again if given the chance. We have no reason to be concerned, I think." Sazed replied firmly. Yoda made a sort of condescending humming noise that told Sazed what the Jedi Master thought of that sentiment.

"A God you may be, but think too much you do. Faith in your old friend, misplaced may be. Do not think but feel with the Force you must; it bleeds the Force does because of this Jedi and your friend. Conflicted the future is either doom or peace from this will come." Yoda looked tired, as if he hadn't slept in days. If the alien was as worried as Sazed thought he was then that assessment wasn't far off.

"The future is always unclear, I think. That is just the nature of things. I believe we must trust them to make the right choices." Sazed said.

"Supposed to happen this was not. Destroy destiny these ripples in the Force do. Truly uncertain the future is, even to a Jedi. Dangerous this is." Yoda warned.

"What would you do Master Yoda, kill them send them back to the afterlife so destiny could come to pass, would you wish to have their murders on your conscience?" the God inquired hotly.

"For the greater good it would be." The Jedi nodded mutely.

"The greater good, there comes a time when beings serve the greater good lose sight of good and fall to what you would call the Dark Side, I think. Would you truly risk taking a step down that path by killing them Master Yoda?" The Jedi paused at this, then, after a moment shook his head.

"No, take that risk I will not. Right you are Sazed, killing them, the wrong path is. Help them find their path I must. Go to them on Earth I will." Sazed frowned in confusion and concern. He hadn't known Master Yoda very long; they had only met shortly after the ripples started. As a planetary God with the powers of both the primordial forces Preservation and Ruin he was far more attuned to the cosmic energy, what Yoda called the Force, than any mortal no matter how powerful could hope to be. As he investigated the ripples he had sensed a good presence on Degobah that was attuned to the cosmic forces. Sazed had come to investigate and found Yoda and the pair discussed the situation at length daily as new details became clear to them. While the two disagreed on what to do about the current situation the former Terrisman did like the Jedi Master and was concerned for him.

"Master Yoda you do not look well, you should rest, I think." Sazed counseled. Yoda shook his head.

"Rest when I join the Force I will." The imp replied.

"You told me the moment you stepped off this planet the Sith would be on your trail. Are you certain you wish to follow this course?" Sazed asked.

"Old I am, die soon I will. Days, weeks, years, when I know not. Do as much good as possible I must, that means aid your friend Vin and this mystery Jedi I sense I will." Yoda said with a tone of finality.

"How will you get to Earth?" Sazed inquired.

"Same way I got here, escape pod." Yoda said as he gestured to the pod with his cane.

"I wish you luck on your journey Master Yoda." the God said.

"And may the Force be with you Sazed." Sazed nodded and for form faded form the planet Degobah.

 

* * *

 

 

Emperor Palpitine was not blind, especially in the ways of Force. He too had sensed these ripples, this open wound in the Force that continued to bleed. He had sensed the beginning of it and knew it had come from Galen Marek, Darth Vader's secret apprentice. Starkiller as the boy was codenamed had been meant to be a tool to lure out the rebels so that they could be destroyed. Instead his sacrifice had united them creating a bit of an annoyance for the Emperor.

That should have been the end of it but somehow the boy had come back from the dead, causing this wound in the Force. The future was more clouded than it had ever been and although he would never admit to it, not even to himself, Darth Sidious was afraid. Starkiller was powerful, possibly powerful enough to surpass Sidious himself given time and now he was a Jedi, who were sworn to destroy Sith like him.

However it was more than just Starkiller that troubled the Emperor, in what visions of the future Sidious could acquire lately there was another, a woman sometimes she was a Jedi and other she was a Sith. No matter what side of the Force she adhered to in the vision, she was always powerful. Powerful enough to be very dangerous to Sidious' plans if she was not turned this he could sense. The Sith wondered why his visions of the future were so clouded as of late. The visions were often conflicting as they were with the woman. Sidious relied very heavily on his Force Visions to keep one step ahead of his enemies and now the future was too clouded to see.

Darth Sidious knew that he must find out why the future was so clouded and rectify it, if he could not peer into the future and people like Starkiller and that woman were running around it could spell his doom. At least things were somewhat stable at the moment. Darth Vader had sent a clone of Starkiller to deal with the original and it seemed probable that that the woman was with him as well. Palpitine was very fond of clones, especially after Order 66, his masterful stroke that destroyed the Jedi Order except for a few vermin still in hiding.

 _"Yes, the clone will handle Starkiller and this woman I've seen if she is there. There is no cause for concern."_ The Sith Lord assured himself. Then he felt Master Yoda leave Degobah.

 

* * *

 

Captain Juno Eclipse, member of the Rebel Alliance woke slowly. Her mind was foggy and she was having trouble remembering how she got here, wherever here was. She was shackled and in a small prison type room, that was a good indication that she had been captured by Imperial forces.

That's right, the _Salvation_ had been attacked by the bounty hunter Boba Fett; he'd gassed her. Now the question was why was she still alive? To the Empire she was a traitor so why not just execute her? Perhaps they were planning some sort of interrogation to learn rebel secrets? The door opened to reveal one of the most imposing figures in Juno's memory: Darth Vader himself.

"Hello, Captain Eclipse, we have business to discuss." He said simply. Juno glared at the Sith defiantly.

"Like I would ever help you." she spat.

"You will if you wish to see my apprentice again." Vader said matter-of-factly, or as close as his voice could get to the inflection.

"Galen is dead. I saw the explosion myself. You can't trick me Vader." she spat. The Sith was quiet for a moment, only the sound of his respirator could be heard.

"He came back. I don't know how but he came back from the dead and now you're going to help me destroy him, quite willingly."

"Like hell I will." Juno shot back. Two Imperial Stormtroopers entered the room.

"Take her to be reprogrammed." he said.

"Yes sir." The troopers said before leading Juno out of the room. The rebel Captain was deathly afraid, she knew what was going to happen. What awaited her was a fate worse than death. She was going to be brainwashed into fighting her allies, into fighting against Galen.

 

* * *

 

 

Mavick sat in a room in the _Rogue Shadow_ far away from the Jedi Rahm Kota. It wouldn't do to get caught now, he was communicating with his Master Darth Vader.

"Have you located your template Mavick?" Vader asked from the communicator.

"No, Master I have been completing your other order, to find those close to my template and convincing them that I am him and he is the clone. I have found Rahm Kota and am currently looking for Juno Eclipse." he replied.

"Do not worry yourself with the woman, I have already found and captured her. I will mold her to our ends." Mavick was less than pleased by this; he had hoped to see Juno himself. Despite the fact that he was a clone the… attachments of his template were still prominent in his mind. Again he inwardly cursed Galen Mark for coming back to life. Juno should be _his_. However Mavick nodded.

"Yes my Master I will focus on finding and eliminating my template." Mavick closed the link.

 

* * *

 

 

Vin was more than a little nervous as she and Galen entered the apartment building. It had been awhile since she had scammed anyone like this. As part of her training Vin was to use the Jedi mind trick to procure them a new place to live as the waterfront warehouse was ill-suited to habitation.

The owner of the building sat behind a large wooden desk. He was a pudgy balding man, only ring of black hair lining the outside of his scalp. Vin and Galen approached him confidently, though with Vin the confidence was a bit of an act. The man appeared to be pouring over ledgers of some kind. Galen tapped the desk causing the man to look up.

"What do you want?" the man asked in the accent typical to the city, irritation showing in his dark green eyes. Galen pulled out a wad of money, and laid half of the bills on the desk, what the locals would call fifty dollars. This wealth had been acquired by… convincing passerby to give them money with a combination of Allomancy and Jedi mind tricks. Due the different denominations of bills Galen still held a several hundred dollars in his hand. They had had more but they'd spent it on various amenities such as shampoo and laundry detergent that they would need after they'd moved into a new residence.

"We're looking for a place to stay. A two bedroom apartment if you have one." The man glanced down at the bills.

"You're kidding me right? That's not nearly enough for a room." he spat. Vin caught Galen give her a discreet nod, it was sink or swim time.

"Yes it is." she said waving a hand in front of the man's face and calling on the Force. He paused for a minute as if considering it.

"No it isn't." the man replied.

"This amount will be enough." Vin called on a little more Force power. The man paused a bit longer.

"No it won't be," he said adamantly, "What do you think you are doing waving your hand around like that?" Vin bit her lip, this wasn't working. Was she doing this wrong? Vin reflexively felt her metal reserves, Galen had allowed her to ingest metals because they were going out in the day and they were still wanted for that debacle on the day they met.

 _"Galen's not going to like this."_ Vin thought burning brass and directing the power at the building owner, making him more trusting.

"This money will be enough." Vin said, once again attempting a mind trick. The man rummaged in his desk for a moment before placing a pair of keys on the desk.

"Apartment 35, third door on the left on the third floor." he said. Galen nodded, took the keys, and walked toward the stairwell. Vin followed behind him.

"Nice job Vin," He whispered with an appreciative tone. Vin squirmed a bit at the praise. Galen quirked an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

"I had to burn brass and Soothe him before the mind trick would work." she admitted guiltily. Her master nodded.

"That doesn't surprise me, that man had a decently strong mind, I could tell. You did well Vin, I'm not disappointed in you for using Allomancy when necessary. It is after all just another power at your disposal, which, from what you've told me is second nature to you now. Asking you to give it up completely would be like asking you to give up breathing." He told her as he opened the door to their new apartment.

Vin took her surroundings; while nowhere near as lavish as her rooms in Keep Venture had been back home the apartment was no doubt an improvement over the abandoned warehouse they'd been staying in. The apartment consisted of a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and of course two bedrooms, one for her and one for Galen. Vin was especially grateful for that last part considering the odd feelings she had when around Galen. It would be best if they slept in separate rooms.

"I think I'll take a bath, I'm a little overdue for that." Vin said. Galen nodded.

"We both are," he admitted," but as courtesy demands, ladies first, I'll take one after you're done and then we'll go shopping for food, dishes, clothes, and such to make this place a bit more livable. We'll stick to smaller stores so we attract less attention." Vin nodded.

"Sounds good." she said. Vin made for the bathroom.

"Before you take your bath Vin, I want you take this key from me," Galen held up one of the keys the building manager had given him. Vin instinctively reached for her iron so she could Pull the key toward herself, "No, not with Allomancy Vin, use the Force." The Mistborn muttered a curse, how had he known what she was thinking? Vin sighed and reached out a hand calling on the Force, attempting to lift the key out of Galen's hand. The Jedi gripped the key tighter and Vin lost her grip on the key. This was harder than it looked. She tried again with much the same results. It was difficult keeping so focused on the object, directing it wither mind. Vin paused for a moment realizing that she did have experience with something similar, even if the theory was slightly different.

 _"It's like burning iron,"_ she told herself, _"Don't focus on the differences, just think of it like you're using Allomancy."_ Vin tried again and this time was able to keep her grip on the key and pull it from Galen's grip and into her waiting hand.

"Very good for a first try," her Jedi Master said, "I noticed you were having trouble before but that last time it was easy for you. What did you do differently?"

"I thought of it like I was using Allomancy. Force Pushes and Pulls have a lot of the same theory behind them as burning iron or steel, once I stopped focusing on the differences and started focusing on the similarities it came easily." She explained.

"I see," Galen said thoughtfully, "Anyway, I won't stand between you and your bath any longer." Vin nodded and entered the bathroom eager to get clean.


	4. Trial of Spirit

**Chapter 4: Trial of Spirit**

Vin woke up with an intense feeling of foreboding. Something or someone very dark was headed their way. At least that's what her Force Sense told her. She looked over at Galen who was sitting on the floor cross-legged staring unblinkingly into the blue blade of his lightsaber.

"Why do you do that?" Vin asked, mildly frustrated at how calm the Jedi was with the eerie feeling in the air.

"Hm?" Galen snapped out of his trance, "Do what Vin?"

"Stare into the blade of you lightsaber like that, it can't be good for your eyes." The Mistborn noted.

"Oh it probably isn't but helps me attune to the Force in my meditations." Her Jedi Master answered.

"So you sense it too, this foreboding?" she asked. Galen nodded.

"I can sense it but I'm not sure what's causing it Vin. I was never particularly skilled at peering into the future." He told her.

"So what's the plan?" Vin asked.

"I'm not sure Vin. You've progressed well in your training. You really should consider making a lightsaber, I have everything you need right here, including an extensive collection of crystals." The Jedi said. Vin shook her head.

"I know I need to make one, but none of your crystals _feel_ right. I don't know how to explain it." Galen nodded.

"You just haven't found the right material to use yet. It will come to you, you'll know when you've found the right crystal Vin." He assured her.

"Was training in the Force this easy for you?" Vin asked.

"No, Darth Vader was a _much_ harsher teacher than I am and even with his do or die methods it took most of my life to get to the point you're at. I think your experience with Allomancy has helped you greatly in your training with me in these last few months. You have one last test to pass before you can become a full-fledged Jedi Knight. This test is the most difficult of all of them and many have been driven insane by the stresses of this test. It is called the Trial of Spirit." Galen said with pride but he ended on a dark note.

"What so bad about it?" Vin asked with some curiosity. Galen seemed rather haunted by this test. He didn't seem like the kind to be easily scared, so that was not a good sign.

"It's like looking in a mirror, a very distorted mirror. I've found a place for you to take the test. We'll go tonight." Vin's eyes flicked over to the decent sized blocks of metal in the corner of the room stored along with a file used to save flecks off of them. She and Galen had only recently found a metallurgist willing to make metals with Allomantic composition in mind. Vin had made sure to stock up.

"Can I use my Allomancy in this test?" the Mistborn asked.

"Yes." That was all Galen would say to her on the matter.

 

* * *

 

 

Mavick was brooding, that seemed to be the only emotion he'd felt recently. He cursed Galen Marek, his template for what must have been the umpteenth time. Well, that situation he would soon rectify once he got to the backward planet the man was on. He would kill Galen Marek and make sure he stayed dead this time. After that Mavick's destiny was his own, he would take no more orders from Vader or Sidious. Maybe he'd just run off to someplace in the Outer Rim with Juno.

That thought actually made the clone Sith Assassin smile. Running off with Juno and having her all to himself had been a fantasy of his since he had been created. Where would they live? Tatooine, Kashyyyk, maybe Nar Shaddaa? It really didn't matter to Mavick. The door to the meditation chamber of the _Rogue Shadow_ opened to reveal Jedi Master Rahm Kota. The blind Jedi was nothing more than a pawn of the Sith in this matter, and was a loose end that would be dealt with shortly after the mission was accomplished.

"What do you want Kota?" Mavick asked his voice portrayed signs of irritation at having his meditation interrupted.

"Our long range sensors are beginning to pick up primitive signals from the planet you have us steering toward." Kota replied. This got Mavick's full attention.

"What can you tell me about the planet?" he asked.

"Not much I'm afraid, only part of the population speaks basic and there are a host of other languages being broadcast that I can't even begin to understand. The sentient inhabitants appear to be entirely human. From what I've gathered the world isn't united under one government, hundreds of states exist on this planet and are constantly competing to get a leg up on one another, Kota informed, "I've only identified three so far, which I assume are at least some of the main players on the world stage: The United States, China and Russia, there may be others I can't be sure."

"Have you identified the name of the planet?" Mavick inquired.

"The natives call it Earth." The blind Jedi told him.

"Earth," Mavick tested the unfamiliar word on his lips, "Good to know. How long until we enter this Earth's orbit?"

"Given how careful we have to be with our hyperspace jumps, I'd say about two weeks." Kota answered.

"Two weeks? Are you sure we can't speed that up some? I mean this mission is important." The Sith Assassin was finding it hard to imitate his template under these conditions.

"Are you feeling alright Galen, I'm worried about you, abandoning your search for Juno like this after insisting the first thing we do is find her… Not to mention how irritable you've been lately, you need to calm down, meditate and think your course of action through. We don't need you falling to the Dark Side." Kota mused. Damn, the old man was more observant than Mavick had anticipated. This could throw a wrench in his plans when they came across the real Galen. He'd have to be more careful from now on.

"I'm fine Kota," Mavick said, trying to sound civil despite his overwhelming frustration at the situation he currently found himself in, "My visions have directed my attention away from Juno for the time being. The Force is telling me to go to Earth. That clone of me is _far_ too dangerous to be left unchecked any long than necessary and even more dangerous is that woman I keep seeing. I have a feeling we will find them together. Combined they are too much of a threat to what we have worked toward. That clone of me is under the control of the Empire, and we must assume that woman is as well." Mavick once again smirked inwardly at how masterfully he could invert the truth. He was the one who was the danger to the Rebel Alliance; he was the one being employed by the Empire.

One thing he hadn't lied about though was the danger his template and the woman posed, not to Kota's goals but his own. There was something special about these two, something the Force itself didn't like but Mavick couldn't quite put his finger on it. However it did seem like the Force was on his side in this venture, something he was immensely grateful for.

"Very well I will trust your judgment and the will of the Force. We shall continue on our current course and eliminate your clone and the woman if she is with him." The blind Jedi Master's voice held a twinge of distrust however.

" _That was unexpected. I'll have to be more careful in my acting and keep a close eye on him."_ Mavick thought as Kota left the meditation chamber.

 

* * *

 

 

Galen led Vin through the streets of Philadelphia in the dark of the night. He knew where they were going and the place still made him uneasy but it was the only place his apprentice could take her Trial of Spirit. They were moving in silence toward the Eastern State Penitentiary. It was some sort of old closed down prison. During the day people took tours of it, Galen had taken a tour of the facility because he felt the Force emanating from it. It was during this tour that he had decided it would be the perfect place for his Padawan to take her Trial of Spirit.

Galen led Vin into the old stone building, now closed and abandoned for the night. They'd entered carefully as to avoid being seen and having the police called on them again. The pair stepped into the building, a preserved ruin of stone and began to walk through the halls.

"Take my lightsaber Vin; you'll need it for this." He told his apprentice as he handed her the weapon. Vin nodded wordlessly and took the blade as he requested.

Even though this was supposed to be Vin's trial and he was merely here to observe, it wasn't long before Galen was overtaken with a vision of his own. He found himself in a room, which from what he understood was typical of Earth homes. It was a decent-sized room with carpet of a light pink, almost beige color and had modest furnishings. A lamp or two on some end tables, a grey couch, what looked to be a recliner in the corner, and a television at the front of the room.

After the sense of vertigo from the initiation of a vision wore off Galen took notice of the room's two occupants. One was a little girl, perhaps no older than six. She had black hair and was turned to the side, so Galen couldn't properly see her face but for some reason this girl reminded him strongly of Vin. The other was a man in his late twenties or early thirties, with close-cropped brown hair wearing a white military-style uniform of some sort, complete with a flowing cape, which looked quite radiant in the sunset light shining through the window. To Galen he looked like some cross between a soldier and a scholar.

"Daddy, when's Mommy coming home?" the girl asked. The hint of sadness in her tone was not lost on the Jedi or the man in white.

" _Mommy, could she be talking about Vin,_ " the Jedi wondered to himself, _"but then who's the man that is this girl's father?"_ The man in white got down on his knees to look the girl in the eye and frowned.

"I don't know honey, your mommy and Uncle Galen are busy making the galaxies a better place, fighting the Empire. I wish I could be there with them but keeping you safe was more important." He told her.

" _Uncle Galen?"_ he thought to himself. Galen studied the man in white a little more closely. He'd never met the man, he was sure of that, but there was still something familiar about him. Galen felt like he should know who this man was. After a moment it finally hit him. In their conversations Vin had described the friends and allies she'd had on her home planet of Scadrial and this man fit the description of one of them perfectly. This man was Vin's husband, Elend Venture, Galen was sure of it.

"Why did Mommy have to go, I miss her." The girl said.

"I know, I miss her too, but she's just trying to give you a safe world to live in. Your mother's always been a fighter, it's all she knows. She loves you a lot, you know that right?" Elend asked. The girl simply nodded, Galen couldn't tell but her feelings of worry and sadness seemed to be placated now.

Suddenly the room shifted, it was the same room but darker, perhaps sometime late at night, it was hard to tell as the window shutters were closed. Galen saw a version of himself standing in front of Elend who looked none too pleased with him. For his part the vision Galen looked rather roughed up, face blackened with soot with several wounds visible. He also looked to be about a decade older than his current seventeen, or was it eighteen years now, it was impossible to tell, he'd lost track of the Galactic calendar since his resurrection on Earth.

"Where is she Galen, where's Vin?" Elend asked him. The man seemed panicked, worried and snappish.

"Elend…" his vision self began before trailing off.

"Where is she? Why isn't she with you? What happened to Vin, what happened to my wife Galen?" he demanded.

"Elend, she's… gone. I tried to stop it, I just wasn't quick enough. Believe me; no one regrets this loss more than I do." The vision Galen hung his head.

"And Kelsier, what about him?"

"Kelsier's dead, I was the only one who made it back from our mission."

"This is all your fault," Elend snarled, "you and your teachings. If it weren't for your Force and your Jedi ways I'd still have Vin! If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have been traipsing all over the galaxies. If it weren't for you my daughter wouldn't have had to grow up barely knowing her own mother." Galen stood frozen, eyes transfixed on the scene unfolding in front of him. Something had happened to Vin, but what? Was she dead; was that god slayer of a woman killed? If so, them by who or what? The Emperor, that was the only being he could think of with enough power to accomplish such a feat, or perhaps something altogether worse had happened…

"Elend I'm sorry for your loss, it hurts me too. Vin meant a lot to me." His vision self said.

"I'm sure she did." Elend replied with ice in his tone.

"Now isn't the time for us to be fighting. We have to plan our next move. I know you want to grieve but we don't have the time; we have to count our assets after these heavy losses."

" _We_? What do you mean _we?_ I never want to see your face again Galen. The Galactic Empire is your problem. I've lost too much fighting your fight, my friends, and my wife. What more do you want from me? You must have known what my reaction would be so why did you come here?" Elend had murder in his eyes.

"I came for your daughter, I want to train her." The vision Galen said.

"Weren't you listening? My family and I don't want anything with you and your Jedi teachings. Losing Vin is bad enough; I'm not giving up my daughter to you too. As I said, this your problem Galen, not mine, not anymore."

" _What events led to such a bleak future?"_ Galen wondered as he continued to watch the vision play out in front of him.

"You'd like to think that wouldn't you," his vision self countered, "You can try and just ignore the plight of the galaxies and live your life but the Empire will still come after you/ They still consider you an enemy and won't rest until you're destroyed. If you want to try and run and hide, fine that's your business. They _will_ find and kill you and I won't let you drag my niece down with you."

"She's not your niece, you're not actually related. She is however my daughter and that means I have the final say in where she goes. I won't let you take her without a fight." Elend swallowed a vial of metals.

"If that's the way it has to be." Vision Galen pulled his lightsaber off of his belt and ignited it. The two men glared at each other for an extended moment with only the hum of Galen's lightsaber to break the silent tension before being distracted by movement in the doorway of a nearby bedroom. It was the girl he had seen earlier in the vision, she'd aged some, she was about ten now.

Galen finally got a good look at her face. The resemblance to Vin was striking, aside from being a good deal younger that is. However it was clear that there were other genes at play as well. The most notable difference was the light blue eyes instead of the brown Vin and Elend had, it must have been a recessive trait. She looked frightened.

"Stop it! Don't fight, I'll go." she said. The room shifted again, this time the entire environment changed. Galen found himself in a long metal corridor. The girl was there again, she'd aged up to about eighteen now and was wearing a mistcloak like Vin's. She was surrounded by Imperial Stormtroopers and was cutting them down with impressive skill using a pair of shotos or short bladed lightsabers with silver-green blades.

The sound of a respirator could be heard and Galen whirled around and reached for his lightsaber before remembering he gave it to Vin. Despite knowing this was a vision he was still on edge, if Darth Vader was coming… A blue lightsaber cut down five Stormtroopers. A man in armor similar to his former master's appeared next to the girl. However this armor was sleeker, more streamlined, this was not Darth Vader. The mask of the suit retracted to reveal Galen's own face, though he looked even older and grayer than he should have, likely do to the physical and mental stresses of his life since the last scene.

"I'm getting too old for this." Vision Galen complained. The girl giggled at his remark.

"You're doing just fine Uncle Galen. I think you're just grumpy because you're getting outpaced by a girl." She stuck her tongue out at him. Vision Galen smiled at her for a moment but then his expression turned somber.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked.

"You think I'm ready so I'm sure I am. I've been training for this battle for years and I owe this enemy a few good licks. It's all or nothing." She said resolutely.

"Just be careful, this isn't like one of our spars. This isn't an opponent you can take lightly. Follow my lead and don't take unnecessary risks." Vision Galen said with a nod as he replaced his mechanical mask. The pair of them walked down the hall and into a large open room. What Galen saw shook him to his core. An older Vin sat on a metal throne surrounded by various trophies. Lightsabers and mistcloaks hung on the wall. He recognized one of the lightsabers as that of Emperor Palpitine. Darth Vader's helmet rested on a pike as did a head with two large iron spikes through the eyes. Most chilling though were the two figures frozen in carbonite, one Galen recognized as Elend and the other had bizarre crisscrossing scars on his hands and arms. From the descriptions Vin had given him of her friends he deduced that this man was her Allomancy teacher Kelsier.

"Ah, if it isn't my old Jedi Master and I see you brought my daughter with you. I haven't seen her in so long. Thank you for this family reunion Galen." Vin regarded the pair with something akin to amusement in her cold Sith yellow eyes.

"It's over Vin; I'm going to end your reign of terror. I was the one who taught you the ways of the Force it's only fitting that I end your abuse of them." Vision Galen said, his voice distorted to something close to Darth Vader's due to the mask he was wearing. Vin laughed coldly.

"Reign of terror? Abuse of the Force? Oh Galen don't be so melodramatic, I merely brought peace to the galaxies, I protect them from evil and isn't that what we both wanted?" she asked.

"Look around you Vin, pieces of your friends and allies surround you as well as your enemies. Your husband and the closest thing you ever had to a father are dead and preserved in carbonite like some hunter's prized trophies. Is this really what you wanted?" Vin's demeanor changed instantly. A look that was a mixture of anger, hatred, sadness, and perhaps even a little remorse washed over her face.

" _Perhaps she can still be redeemed."_ Galen thought hopefully.

"Do you think I wanted this," Vin asked, "Do you think I wanted them dead because I didn't. I wanted them to live and share in the peace I was ushering in. They just couldn't understand my glorious vision. I don't really want to hurt the two of you either. You are the only family I have left. There was always a place for you in my Galactic Empire and it's still not too late for you to join me."

"You're wrong Vin. It wasn't the others who couldn't see, it was you. You've been blinded by the Dark Side of the Force and become the very monsters you fought. You are a Sith. Evil at its blackest, the hero that you once were has retreated deep within, shunning the darkness that you've embraced. Even as I say these things, true as they are, it's not too late for you to turn from this path and be redeemed Vin. I beg you, for your daughter's sake, shun the darkness and return to the clarity of the light." Vision Galen pleaded.

"You're wrong, the Dark Side allowed me to see thing clearly. It allowed me to see and do what had to be done." The Mistborn Sith replied. Vision Galen shook his head sadly.

"If that's the way you really see things Vin, then I'm sorry, I have to end you; it's my duty as a Jedi." The suited Jedi ignited his blue lightsaber and took a Shien stance, grasping the blade in the metal claws of his life-support exosuit. Galen wasn't surprised by this; he had always favored Form V due to Darth Vader's teachings.

" _You_ end _me_ ," Vin chuckled coldly once more, "You can barely breathe without that metal suit on. Come on Galen, you've known me and the others long enough to know wearing metal in a place where there even _might_ be Allomancers, _especially_ full Mistborn is nothing short of suicide. Doubly so when you rely on that metal to stay alive. Perhaps you were counting on me having abandoned my Allomancy in favor of the Dark Side of the Force, making it easier for you to take me on. No such luck I'm afraid, I've never been one to squander an advantage. Now feel the power of my iron and steel!" The vision Galen sudden convulsed as his life-support suit was torn apart by the power of Vin's Allomancy. Some pieces flew backwards under the power of Vin's steel, others, like his breathing apparatus were wrenched toward Vin as a result of her Ironpulls. It only took a few seconds for Vision Galen, to become a bloody aged mess on the metal floor of the throne room.

"No, Uncle Galen!" Vin's daughter shouted with unshed tears in her eyes.

"So it is down to you and it is down to me," Vin said nonchalantly, "The offer to join me is still on the table sweetie, Sith or not I'm still your mother and I don't want to see you harmed." The girl just glared at her mother, blue eyes cold as ice.

"My mother is dead; she died eight years ago, when I was just ten years old. You killed her. You may look like my mother, you may sound like my mother, but you are _NOT_ my mother. My mother was a hero, a savior of worlds, a slayer of gods, and protector of the innocent. When I look at you all I see is murderous scum. I will _never_ join you." the girl was ablaze with defiance. Despite this Galen saw the Sith Vin smile.

"Is that hatred I hear in your words and see in your eyes? Good, your hatred will give you power, give into the Dark Side and be free." The Mistborn Sith encouraged.

"I don't hate you," the girl replied, "I pity you. You've fallen so far and lost so much. It's been so long that you've forgotten love and the Light Side and there is no hope for your redemption now. It's such a waste." The girl brought her shotos to bear and dropped into the opening stance of Form IV, Ataru. Vin let out an exasperated sigh.

"I see Galen has poisoned your mind with that Jedi rhetoric. It's a shame, I really had hoped my own daughter would've joined me but it seems talking to you further will be pointless. Your upbringing has blinded you to the truth. It's such a waste of potential but it can't be helped, I'm going to have to kill you. I really didn't want to do this to you kid." Galen was shocked to find that Vin's words actually sounded sincere. Without another word Vin activated her own pair of shotos, these being Sith red contrasting the silvery green of her daughter's blades and taking an identical Ataru stance.

The odd combination of Ataru, the dual-wielding or Jar'kai tactic and the use of two shotos must run in the family Galen surmised. Ataru used Jar'kai in its training regimen so that wasn't odd. However shotos weren't that common. They were used mainly as back up weapons and even that was rare. So using it as your main weapon, and to wield two of them was quite quirky.

Mother and daughter clashed over and over at speeds Galen could barely track, pieces of metaland over objects circling around them by the power of the Force and Allomancy, occasionally be thrown for an attack, only to be deflected. This was more than just the Force and the natural speed and acrobatics of Ataru; this was the power of Allomancy when combined with the Force. For several minutes only the clashing of lightsabers and the fluttering of a pair of mistcloaks could be heard. Then all of the sudden the motion stopped and Galen saw the girl impaled through the chest on one of Vin's shotos.

"No!" he cried as the vision faded away. The images he'd just seen, that future was so bleak. It was then Galen made a promise to himself; that he would do whatever it took to save Vin from the fate of falling to the Dark Side so she could live a happy life, and if possible win her heart like he'd been dreaming of doing almost since the day he met her. That reminded him, he needed to check on Vin and make sure her Trial of Spirit was going well.

 

* * *

 

 

Vin found herself backing up out of a mixture of shock and fear. A single being stood in front of her, a being more powerful than any she had ever encountered, save Ruin and Sazed after the Final Ascension. Walking toward her was the Lord Ruler. He wore a hood, which was odd as Vin had never seen him wear in life but she knew it was him, there was no mistaking it.

"You killed me. You killed me and destroyed my life's work. I was your God." The Lord Ruler said in his chilling monotone. Vin waved Galen's blue lightsaber at the man in a threatening manner trying to get him to back up. The effort was fruitless, he just Pushed it out of her hands with his Allomancy, the weapon deactivating and clattering to the stone floor several feet away.

He didn't just stop at Pushing away the lightsaber though; he began to Push on the ingested metals in her stomach, something only the most powerful of Allomancers could do. Vin remembered this pain, she had felt it the day Kelsier died when she went to fight the Lord Ruler and finish what Kelsier had started.

"Rashek," she wheezed out, hoping that using The Lord Ruler's name would give him pause, "I'm sorry I didn't know what you did for Scadrial." The Mistborn Feruchemist didn't let up on his assault for a moment.

"You killed me and now I will have my revenge Vin Venture." Rashek said. Vin knew how to defeat the Lord Ruler if she really wanted to. All she had to do was separate him from his atium bracers, which were his Feruchemical Metalminds for storing age. She couldn't do it Allomantically because they pierced his skin and there were no mists to help her this time but a good Force Pull would do the trick.

"I don't want to hurt you Rashek. You're a good man. I'm sorry for killing you but it all worked out in the end, The true Hero of Ages was found. It was a Terrisman, like you thought it should be; you were right. I won't fight you." Vin struggled to get the words out but once they were out the pain stopped. Rashek had stopped Pushing on her ingested metals. Vin took a deep breath to compose herself. The Lord Ruler dropped his hood and his black and white outfit became pure white. Vin was shocked to find Elend's face staring back at her instead of Rashek's.

"Good, you've passed the first test Vin," Elend said. She wasn't sure if this was really Elend sent by Sazed or if it was some sort of Force projection and part of her Trial of Spirit, "Next comes the hard part, take this, you'll need it." He Ironpulled Galen's lightsaber into his waiting hand and gave it to Vin before vanishing.

"Hard part, what is he talking about?" Vin muttered to herself.

"He meant me." Vin turned and was shocked to find herself staring back at her. The only physical difference Vin could see between her and copy was the copy's eyes were yellow. Something about this version of herself put Vin on edge, she felt dark, almost like Ruin.

" _It's like burning gold,"_ Vin thought, _"I'm seeing another version of myself. Maybe a possible future?"_ Most people probably would've been disturbed by such a thing but once again her experiences with Allomancy had helped temper her reactions. Dark Vin pulled two lightsabers from her belt and ignited them. The blades were a good deal shorter than the one Galen had lent Vin, indicating that they were shotos the lightsaber equivalent of a dagger, and were blood red. Vin immediately ignited the blue lightsaber she'd been given and set her metals burning in her stomach, pewter, tin, electrum, iron and steel. The latter two would likely be useless, there wasn't much metal in this building that could really be Pushed or Pulled aside from what Vin herself had brought along but she burned them and her opponent had the same abilities but she burned out of habit anyway.

The other metals she'd chosen would be much more useful. Pewter would enhance her strength, speed, and reaction time several fold on top of what the Force already did. Electrum would help to counter Jedi battle precognition as it did with the precognitive powers of atium, and tin would help her see better in the dark room, it hadn't been so much an issue before when she wasn't in combat but now she needed the enhanced sight, even if glancing at lightsabers stung her enhanced eyes.

Dark Vin lunged forward in the acrobatic style of the fourth form of lightsaber combat Ataru and Vin blocked the blow by adopting the style of Form III Soresu. Galen had gone over the basics of all seven types of lightsaber combat with her, Soresu was a very defensive form, perfect for feeling out your enemy and keeping yourself guarded until you found an opening, which was exactly what Vin wanted to do right now.

The pair performed the deadly dance of blades through the halls and chambers of this jail turned museum and historical land mark but neither could gain an advantage. It seemed they were both burning the same Allomantic metals, both used Force Pushes and Pulls to try and gain an advantage. However even taking into account the difference in lightsaber dueling styles neither Vin could gain an advantage over the other.

Suddenly Vin's lightsaber was ripped from her hand, the lack of contact with her deactivating it. Reflexively she Pulled on it with iron to try and bring it back to her hands but she found that it stopped dead center in the air between her and her dark counterpart. Both of them were Pulled toward the hilt and therefore each other; Dark Vin's shotos were outstretched, ready to impale her. Vin tried to Push on a pipe with steel to give herself lift and avoid the death blow but her dark counterpart anticipated that and held her down with a telekinetic Force grip, another reason why iron and steel hadn't been used much in this fight.

Vin's eyes widened, she had to do something quickly to avoid this death blow. Just releasing her Ironpull wouldn't be enough, it would stop her forward momentum true, but she'd still lose her lightsaber and without that she was done for anyway. Suddenly an idea hit her, she readying her steel and use subtle Force telekinesis to reorient her lightsaber so the blade end pointed toward her dark counterpart. All at once she extinguished her iron and burned her steel, Vin's Push in combination with Dark Vin's Pull sent the weapon flying toward Dark Vin with great speed. Vin smirked as she used Force telekinesis to activate her barrowed lightsaber remotely, the blue blade now speeding toward her adversary's chest.

"No!" Dark Vin shrieked in horror at this apparently unexpected maneuver before the weapon impaled her. Having been defeated the construct of the Force vanished. Vin took a moment to steady her breath after that trying experience before picking up Galen's lightsaber and deactivating it. Speaking of Galen, Vin could sense him approaching behind her. She turned around quickly and eyed him wearily, not sure of this was another part of her Trial of Spirit or not.

"Congratulations Vin, you passed the test. You're technically a Jedi Knight, though you're still missing an important tool of the Jedi." Galen was smiling at her but he looked somewhat distracted.

"I know, I need my own lightsaber. Are you okay, you seem to have something on your mind." Vin asked.

"Oh, yes I'm fine; I just had a vision of my own." Galen replied.

"So what exactly was the point of this test?" she inquired.

"As I said it was like looking into a twisted mirror, that was about seeing the darkest parts of yourself and overcoming them without giving into them." he explained. Vin nodded in understanding. With that they left the building.

 

* * *

 

 

Sazed smiled, he'd been watching Vin's Trial of Spirit and was proud of his old friend for coming this far in the ways of the Jedi. He felt like he should reward her somehow, but what could he give her? He pondered this for a time until an idea struck him. Vin was having trouble finding an appropriate lightsaber crystal. He would send her some beads of Lerasium, the condensed power of Preservation that when ingested made men Mistborn, it should make a fine lightsaber crystal. He decided to send three beads, he was sure Vin would find use for any extra.

Vin was mediating over two of the three beads of Lerasium Sazed has made appear in her pocket after her Trial of Spirit. She wasn't sure why he had sent three, she only needed two to make the lightsabers she wanted, but she was grateful all the same. This metal had saved Elend's life and bestowed Allomancy when used. It was something from home and would make the perfect crystal.

 

* * *

 

 

She'd been meditating over these beads of metal for several days to attune them to the Force. Finally she felt they were ready. Slowly and carefully she assembled from the two lightsabers from the materials Galen had given her. She had decided to create two shotos like she'd seen her dark counterpart use; she was used to dagger type weapons anyway.

Having finished the assembly of her shotos Vin activated them to examine her work. The blade was a silver-green color like the bead of Lerasium that was at its core. Just then Galen walked into the apartment holding one hand behind his back.

"Ah Vin, I see you've finished your shotos," he got a distracted look for a second when he saw the blade. Then he sneezed, "I hate this, what did you call it, a cold? We didn't have sicknesses like this where I come from, I'm lucky the germ hasn't killed me from lack of immunity."

"Maybe the Force is boosting your healing," Vin hypothesized, "I don't understand why you're having more trouble breathing than I did." Vin said after Galen had a bit of a coughing fit. She had recovered from a cold quite a bit faster.

"You grew up in a world of ash, and that ash had fallen for a thousand years, your people probably evolved a superior respiratory system to survive." Galen told her Vin nodded and made a plate of food. She ate a lot less than the people of Earth or wherever Galen was from. Plants were healthier on this world than in the environment she’d grown up in and there were many more types of meat. She and Galen assumed that the people of Scadrial had adapted to needing fewer nutrients to survive and so the nutrient rich foods of Earth filled her up faster.

"Where'd you go off to anyway?" Vin asked. Galen smirked.

"Oh I just went to pick these up," He removed the hand from behind his back to reveal a bouquet of yellow flowers like the ones that had been on Mare's picture. Sure she had seen flowers in the afterlife but these were more real in a sense, "These are for you." Galen proceeded to put the flowers in a vase and fill said vase with water.

"Th-Thank you, they're beautiful." Vin stammered, blushing with flattery. No one, not even Elend had done something like this for her. She went over to smell them. The aroma was sweet, just as Kelsier said it would be. Her heart flutter at the kindness of this gesture and she gave Galen an appreciative smile before going to sleep, her body giving out.


	5. The Dark Side of Vin

**Chapter 5: The Dark Side of Vin**

Galen cursed as another bullet cracked past his head and embedded itself in the wall of the building he was taking shelter near. The Jedi had gained an intense loathing for slugthrowers, or guns as the locals called them, during his time on Earth. Though the things were considered woefully primitive by Galactic standards due to the advent of blaster technology in his home galaxy he found them much more of a pain to deal with than blasters. The problem was that he was still used to deflecting highly visible blaster bolts when you could see something coming it was easier to defend against; bullets were much smaller, made of solid matter instead of plasma energy, and still moved at about the same speed as blaster bolts, if not faster. As a result bullets were damn near invisible and if you even tried to deflect one with a lightsaber due to the solid and kinetic nature of the round you just ended up with molten metal flying at you. Not to mention the racket they made when fired, which was rather disorienting in itself. Sadly if you heard them they'd either missed or you or you were bleeding out, so that wasn't really a good indicator of much.

Guns were not Force User friendly. For not the first time, he wished he were an Allomancer like Vin. Allomancers, specifically Mistborn like Vin were _far_ better equipped to deal with gun users, the powers of pewter, iron, and steel made certain of that. Vin had told him about the material she had used as the focusing crystals for her shotos, lerasium she called it; it was a special metal that when ingested made people into Mistborn. Galen also knew that the being that sent them to her, what was his name, Sazed, he wasn't sure she said something about him starting to go by the name of Harmony now, had sent her a spare bead of the stuff. Galen had thought of asking Vin if he could have it but had decided against it. Something like that was probably best saved for an emergency anyway. He regretted that decision very much right now.

Galen considered his options carefully and bluntly they weren't good; he needed to get away but he might not be able to do it and get the food, which wouldn't make Vin happy but he wasn't seeing much choice at this point. These officers from the Philadelphia Police Department had cornered him after he'd been out buying some groceries. He knew that he and Vin had warrants out for their arrest, those went back to their first day on Earth when they'd had that initial scuffle with law enforcement. It seemed to Galen though that the police had gotten more aggressive in pursuing him specifically in the last couple of days.

 _"I wonder what changed,"_ he thought, _"Usually they go after Vin more aggressively because she killed that officer."_ Galen did what he had to do and dropped the grocery bags. Better to get back to the apartment alive and without the food, then to keep trying to carry the food and never get there. He stepped out from his hiding place and lashed out with a Force Repulse sending the police scattering and nocking most, if not all of them out as they found the ground again. He took a roundabout route back to the apartment, hoping to lose any possible tails. When he finally entered his home he found Vin sitting in the recliner and she did _not_ look happy with him.

"Is there something you'd like to explain to me?" she asked. Vin's tone made it rather clear to Galen that he'd better explain things in a hurry.

"Sorry, I bought the food, but I ran into the police and had to leave it behind to get here alive." he said. Vin scowled at him.

"I'm not talking about the groceries Galen." Now that confused him greatly. If she wasn't mad about the groceries then what was she talking about?

"Vin you're not making any sense." Galen said. Wordlessly she turned on the television. A local news show was paying at the moment; Galen found that odd, the news wasn't usually on at this hour. The female reporter on screen was saying something Galen could hardly believe. She was accusing him or rather someone who looked like him of killing several police officers over the last few days.

"Would you care to explain that?" Galen knew what that sentence really meant: Explain now.

"I'm sorry Vin; I don't have an explanation for this. I didn't do it, you have to believe me. Do you really think I would be stupid enough to put us in danger?" Galen asked. Vin paused for a moment.

"Normally I would believe you," she said, "but they described this person is using a lightsaber. The people of Earth may know of the weapons, but they don't know how to make them." Galen had to concede that point. Early in their stay here he and Vin had discovered that there was a popular fiction franchise on Earth called _Star Wars_ which detailed the history of his home galaxy and even delved into the future of it. Galen himself was the main character of a videogame called _The Force Unleashed_ which he had found to be disturbingly accurate. There was a sequel game called _The Force Unleashed II_ which detailed the adventures of a clone of himself… and then it hit Galen like a ton of bricks.

"Vin," He began, "do you remember that game about me, _The Force Unleashed_?" Vin nodded.

"How could I forget? They were almost as big a shock as those _Mistborn_ books that featured me as a main character. It was scary how accurate those things were. Part of me still wants to find that Brandon Sanderson guy and get some answers on how in the Lord Ruler's name he knew all of that."  
"Who knows? I'd really rather not know myself. We're the strangest things this world has ever seen and I'd prefer not to draw more attention to us," Galen said. Vin nodded in agreement, "Anyway in the sequel game _The Force Unleashed II_ the player played as a clone of me."

"You think there's a clone of you out there?" Vin asked.

"It's the only explanation I can think of," He replied, "Did they mention anything else about this person?"

"They said he was with an older man. I think it might be your Jedi Master, Rahm Kota." The Mistborn replied. Galen nodded; as always Vin's observation skills were keen. Galen got into a meditative position and stretched his mind out to locate his clone and Jedi Mater. Considering there were only four Force Users on the entirety of Planet Earth at the moment, Vin and himself included, and they were all in Philadelphia they weren't hard to find.

"I've found them," He said as his eyes snapped open. He checked his lightsaber after standing up and found everything in working order as he'd expected, "and now it's time to go take care of this mess. I'd bet my last credit either Vader or the Emperor is behind this, maybe both."

"Do you want me to come with you for backup?" Vin asked.

"That would probably be a good idea." Galen said. With that the pair of them left the apartment.

 

* * *

 

 

Mavick prowled the streets with Kota in tow. Local law enforcement kept coming after him. He used Mind Tricks on the weaker minded ones, the others he killed but the more of them he killed the less of them fell for the Mind Tricks. It seemed Galen Marek was a wanted man here; Mavick's template frustrated him to no end.

"I don't like having to fight the locals. They're just doing their jobs after all." Kota murmured.

"I don't like it either," Mavick said, though in reality he could care less what happened to these locals. He called them Terrans now as Terra was apparently an alternate name for this planet, "but my clone has made himself the enemy of these Terrans. We have to defend ourselves."

"We must find your clone soon so we can get off this planet and aid the Rebel Alliance." Mavick sighed; they'd been down this road before. Kota was becoming more and more suspicious it seemed. That would be a loose end to deal with at a later date. Mavick didn't really care about killing his template's old master, but if he stayed alive and figured out the truth he might tip off Juno and ruin all the hard work Mavick had and would put in to replacing his template. Kota was just a Jedi anyway, he didn't know the power of the Dark Side; he would not be a loss. Mavick kept his sights on his ultimate goal: Juno.

"They will come to us," the Sith clone assured him, "The can sense us, they will come."

"We're drawing too much attention to ourselves Galen. This planet is extremely primitive, still divided into cultural subgroups and their technology is the most backward I've ever seen. People are bound to notice things like our lightsabers and want to get their hands on them," Kota said, "From our lightsabers they could start to develop blaster technology, something that would give any subgroup that had it a major advantage. If they were to find the _Rogue Shadow_ …"

"The _Rogue Shadow_ would send their finest scientists babbling to an asylum," Mavick said, "This planet hasn't even begun to develop sub-light drives yet. They can only send people to their own moon. A hyperdrive, cloaking device, or the _Rogue Shadow_ 's weapons or power systems would shatter their understanding of the laws of physics." Kota sighed.

"I suppose you're right," he admitted, "but I don't like leaving the ship in the middle of a forest even with its cloak engaged all day. There's always a chance that someone from the government of this faction we landed in, the United States of America I believe it's called, will discover the ship by accident during the day, or at night when we uncloak it to let the systems cool down and come bearing down on us to get the ship for themselves. Send in enough men with slugthrowers and even two Jedi will fall to the primitive things. Even the most basic of technologies on the _Rogue Shadow_ could drastically alter this planet. Forgive me for being a bit wary of all of this, especially with a wormhole connecting our galaxy to this one. We run the risk of exposing Earth to the Empire." Once again Mavick had to hide his utter apathy for whatever happened to this stupid mud ball called Earth or the people on it.

"Kota our mission is simple: Find my clone and this woman who is with him, deal with them, and leave. That will be done soon enough and you won't have to worry about the Empire finding or caring about Earth when we start helping the Rebellion again. Believe me, I want to get this over with as much as you do so I can find and reunite with Juno." He told the Jedi.

 _"And once this over I can finally dispose of you Kota."_ Mavick added to himself.

"I know you want to find Juno Galen. I just feel on edge is all. Something's just not right. It feels like I'm walking into a trap." Kota muttered. Yes, the old man was getting close to the truth, too close. The sooner his template and the mysterious woman were dealt with the better. Then he could deal with Kota and move on with his life. The sooner this was done with, the sooner he could have Juno. Mavick's head snapped up as his senses picked up on two powerful Force presences approaching, Kota noticed them as well as he had much the same reaction.

"They're coming." Mavick declared.

 

* * *

 

 

Vin raced though Philadelphia with a Mistborn's gait. Iron and steel in a city like this… she felt even freer than she had in Luthadel. She never even had to touch the ground once she took off. Using Allomancy in broad daylight in Philadelphia wasn't the smartest thing in the world, especially considering the police had it out for her but this was an emergency of sorts with Galen's clone out there.

"So what do you think this clone of yours wants?" she asked Galen who puffed as he tried to keep up with her.

"Probably to off me," Galen kept his tone light, almost disturbingly so, it reminded Vin of Kelsier, "After all he's likely working for either Darth Vader or Emperor Palpitine and neither of them are big fans of mine and would want me out of the picture."

"Then why would your old master, Kota, be with him. From what you told me Jedi aren't exactly friend with the Empire." Vin match Galen's near joviality with gross understatement. He'd given her history lessons about the Jedi and the origins of the Empire. In short, she knew about Order 66.

"Infiltration is my guess, there's still the Rebellion out there after all," Galen said, "They want to be rid of it and Kota knows where it is. I'm a hero to the Rebel Alliance Vin, and they won't be able to tell that clone from me until it's too late. If we don't stop my clone here, then my home galaxy has no hope of overthrowing the Empire. Anyone who gets a resistance big enough to try, well they'll be met by the Death Star the Emperor is building and if the information from _Star Wars_ is as accurate across the board as it was with my adventures, that thing can destroy entire planets in a single shot."

Oppressive empires were something Vin was all too familiar with. She had, after all, grown up in the Final Empire on Scadrial. The Lord Ruler hadn't exactly been an evil man, not like how Galen described Emperor Palpitine or Darth Vader; the Lord Ruler had at least had the greater good of humanity in mind instead of it just being a power grab for the sake of a power grab. That said, he'd made the majority of his subjects slaves to the minority and had them treated as property, or even less than that. The Mistborn Jedi may not have been able to comprehend a weapon that could destroy an entire planet like the Death Star was supposed to be able to, hell sometimes she still had trouble dealing with the concept of a moon, as Scadrial didn't have one, but rebellions, rulers quashing dissent through fear and force of arms, _that_ Vin understood.

The Final Empire had the skaa rebellion; a bunch of runaway slaves and mill workers playing at being a rebellion was a more apt description. The skaa rebellion had existed in small packets of people scattered to the four corners of the Final Empire, each one comprising of a few hundred, maybe a few thousand fighters each. Most people had thought them suicidal madmen, Vin included, Luthadel, the capitol of the Final Empire where revolt was least likely had a policing force of 20,000 trained soldiers. Any time one group of rebels got any sort of momentum they were crushed by either the Lord Ruler's human soldiers or his monstrous Koloss.

"Do you think we can handle this Galen?" Vin was a bit apprehensive, she'd never seriously fought a Force user before; well there was that was the day she met Galen but neither of their hearts had been in that.

"I'm pretty confident I can handle this myself Vin," he said, "All I have to do is get Kota to recognize that I'm the original and then take care of the clone."

"If you think it's going to be that simple why am I coming along?" Vin asked with perhaps the slightest bit of a front in her voice.

"You're the backup plan Vin," her Jedi Master told her, "This may look easy on the datapad but any number of things could go wrong. If things get bad, you step in to help out. You're the trump card." It took the Mistborn a few seconds to fully understand what he had said. Vin understood most of it, even the reference to a trump card, as they'd had playing cards back on Scadrial. The part about datapads briefly confused her though before she figured out they must be the equivalent of paper where Galen was from.

"I understand." Vin said with a nod. Then they found them and Vin had to do a double take. In front of them stood an exact copy of Galen, that in itself wasn't so strange, she knew of twins but still, it was a bit of a shock. She finally got a good look at Kota as well. Did all Jedi look this unassuming? If so, she fit the bill perfectly at five foot nothing and a hundred pounds soaking wet. It was weird how that worked out.

"Hello Galen." The clone said with a smirk. Kota froze.

"Galen," he asked before turning to the clone, "So you're the fake!" The Galen clone laughed.

"You may call me Mavick," he said, "I got sick of hiding who I really was from you Kota. Not that it matters that you know now, I can deal with you later. Right now I'm more interested in eliminating my template. A task you will not interfere in my completion of."

"And why would I do that Sith?" Kota spat.

"Don't you sense it you fool Jedi," Mavick asked, "The Force is in pain, hemorrhaging. The cause of this is at the very least, Galen Marek, and maybe his friend as well. I was guided here by the Force Kota, that wasn't a lie. It guided me here so I could kill my template and set the universe right. Once all of you are out of the way I'll be free to pursue Juno, and live the life I want."

Vin knew of Juno of course. Galen had told her stories of the former Imperial pilot. From the stories he was clearly smitten with her and for some reason that made Vin's stomach turn. There was no reason for such a reaction; she was happily married to Elend who was waiting for her to return to the afterlife. Galen being in love with someone shouldn't have made her uncomfortable but it did and that confused the Mistborn Jedi to no end.

"Alright Mavick, if you want to fight me so bad, we'll fight. One on one."

"Galen, are you sure you can handle him alone?" Vin asked.

"He's my clone Vin. I have to handle him on my own. I have to stop his plans." Galen replied.

 _"You just want to fight for your girl by yourself."_ Vin thought. She was surprised by the bitterness that had crept into the tone of the thought.

The pop hiss sound of lightsabers igniting drew Vin out of her introspection. Galen and Mavick charged one another, each intending to kill the other. She'd seen things like this before like when Kelsier had fought a Steel Inquisitor right before he died but even after having killed so many beings herself such things were still hard to just stand by and watch.

Mavick's twin sabers clashed against Galen's single blade. The two held that position for a few slow moving seconds before jumping apart. Random items off the street floated around them and were occasionally used as weapons in the grip of their Force Telekinesis. Galen and Mavick jumped around the battlefield, clashing again and again, switching lightsaber styles and using various Force powers whenever they felt the need in an attempt to knock the other off balance. Watching two such skilled Force users locked in combat was incredible to Vin. It was almost like watching two Mistborn fight.

Then came the sickening realization that Galen could not win this fight. He was tiring faster than his clone, the Jar'kai tactics had kept him the defensive and this clone obviously had all the combat experiences and training of the original before he came to Earth, plus more. Vin watched in horror as Mavick pressed the advantages against her Jedi Master. Time seemed to slow of its own accord as one of Mavick's blue sabers found a hole in Galen's defenses and struck his side. It was only a grazing blow, not immediately fatal but it would kill him soon enough. Galen cried out in pain, dropping his lightsaber as he pressed his hand to his side. Vin's Jedi Master fell to the ground.

"It looks like I win," Mavick boasted as he raised one of his lightsabers for the killing blow, "I guess I was an improvement over the original." Vin's mind focused on Mavick. She had to stop him from killing Galen, no matter what it took. That _thing_ made her sick. It had hurt her… friend. Her friend and master, she wanted to kill Mavick for that.

"No!" she cried as her hands shot up, blue lightning blasting from her fingertips. Mavick was blasted backwards away from Galen..

"What?" he asked in shock. She kept up the lighting for a few seconds, severely burning the clone, cackling as he did so.

"I'm going to kill you." Vin hissed as she began burning her metals and ignited her shotos. Somewhere in the back of her mid she noticed that her metals seemed to burn with more power than normal with her lightsabers on. She filed that away for later. What she didn't notice or rather _couldn't_ notice was that her normally brown eyes had turned an almost sickly yellow color.

She rushed forward combining Force Speed with pewter. She was on Mavick in an instant. She reared back to give a kick to his side that would no doubt shatter all his ribs. A sadistic smirk played on her lips.

"Vin… Stop," Galen wheezed, "You've beaten him, let it go. You kill him like this you'll fall to the Dark Side, I'm begging you, don' do this." Vin paused and looked over at Galen, then down at Mavick, and back to Galen again. She wrestled with Galen's words for only a moment before her eyes reverted to their natural brown. Without saying a word to the Sith she had been about to kill she rushed over to her Jedi Master.

"This is bad," she said referring to his wound. She'd seen similar wounds. They killed without quick treatment but there was no easy way to move him right now and she couldn't take him to a hospital. If only they had a little more time. If the bleeding wasn't so bad they could get him home and think of something, maybe try some rudimentary first aid…

The bead of lerasium that she carried around since Sazed had given it to her came to the forefront of her mind. With it Galen could become a Mistborn like she was. With pewter they'd be much more likely to get him to a place where they could deal with his wound. Vin pulled it out quickly.

"Swallow this." She ordered. Galen did so and she uncorked a vial of pewter and forced the contents down his throat. Frantically she burned bronze and sure enough she could feel the Allomantic pulsing that came from using that metal coming from him.

"Vin…" he began but she shushed him.

"Don't talk," she said, "Save your strength, even with pewter we still need to get you home and deal with that wound.

 

"I can help with that," said Kota, "being a general on the battlefield I know some first aid." Vin nodded and carefully picked Galen up and cried him back to the apartment with Kota following. Sure Mavick would get away this way but saving Galen's life was more important. Besides, the police would be showing up any time now. Somewhere along the way Galen passed out.

* * *

 

 

Galen groaned as he awoke. His side hurt like hell. His eyes opened slowly, blinking as they adjusted to the light.

"You're up, thank the Force and Sazed," That was Vin's voice. He turned to find her sitting on a kitchen chair next to his bed. She looked tired; bags were beginning to form under her eyes. He tried to speak but his voice failed him. His mouth felt dry and unused, "Here drink this, it'll help." She handed him a glass of water which he took with a shaky hand and sipped.

"How long was I out?" Galen asked.

"Three days solid," Vin said, "It likely would've been more without Kota's Force Healing, a skill he says I have no talent for. Even with it you've been burning pewter constantly since the fight with Mavick to even be doing this well."

"Pewter?" he asked. His memories were a bit fuzzy but he knew he wasn't an Allomancer last he checked.

"I had to feed you my spare bead of lerasium and some pewter so we could get you here and perform first aid of a sort on you. You're now a Mistborn Jedi like me Galen." she explained.

"Vin you didn't have to do that, that bead of metal was rare and powerful… to use it on me…' he began before Vin cut him off.

"Was the right thing to do. I care about you Galen, if anything had happened to you…' Galen's heart soared, maybe, just maybe, she felt the same way about him as he did her he wanted to sit up and kiss Vin right then, despite his weakened state but before he could Vin spoke further. "I just didn't want to lose my… friend and teacher, I've already done that one with Kelsier and I don't need you trying to make a repeat performance."

Galen's heart would've sunk at those words, indeed any man's might have but he'd noticed the hesitation in her voice. She'd wanted to say something other than friend and teacher but stopped herself. There was hope yet. Galen could tell something was holding Vin back though and he had a pretty good idea what, or rather who.

 _"Elend."_ he thought bitterly. It was amazing at how bitter he had become at a man he had never even properly met. A dead man no less. Oh, he'd seen Elend in that horrific vision alive and well, if that was an indication of things to come Galen had no idea, but he'd seemed like a good enough man. However some part of Galen just saw Elend Venture as a sort of phantom obstacle. An obstacle in the way of Vin's heart.

"Our time together is coming to an end, isn't it?" Vin asked. That shocked Galen out of his thoughts like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well once you're healed and Mavick's been dealt with, there's nothing holding you here on Earth is there," she asked, "Kota flew the _Rogue Shadow_ here with Mavick, that's your one way ticket off this planet. You'll want to get back home won't you? Back to Juno." That was like a slap in the face. He hadn't even thought about how Kota and Mavick had gotten to earth, he'd been too preoccupied with dealing with his clone. He'd just assumed he'd be stuck on Earth for the rest of his days with Vin.

He'd given up on ever seeing Juno again. He'd fallen for Vin partially because of that. Now he had a legitimate way off of Earth and back home. He _could_ see Juno again but considering his feelings for Vin, Galen wasn't sure that's what he really wanted anymore. Reality had always had a nasty habit of giving him a sound beat down whenever something good happened in his life; he just never thought said beat down would come courtesy of another good thing. Galen let out a humorless chuckle. It hurt to laugh, his side still bothered him. He found that oddly fitting.

"I thought you were supposed to babysit me for your friend Sazed, Vin? What happened to that?"

"I think I can convince Sazed that you aren't a threat, because you aren't," Vin said, "and I have people waiting for me to get back where _I_ belong."

 _"Elend."_ He thought again with the same bitter tone, oh how he loathed ever hearing that name. Then Galen realized something that had slipped his mind throughout this conversation because he'd been reeling from one shocking statement or another the entire time: Vin wasn't meeting his eyes.

"What's wrong," Galen asked, "You seem distant Vin."

"I'm sorry." Vin said turning her gaze away from him.

"Sorry, what for? You saved my life Vin." he said.

"I touched the Dark Side," she said, "I feel… dirty. The only other time I ever felt like this was when I attacked Cett and his army with Elend's half-brother Zane back on Scadrial. I slaughtered so many people that night, set fire to a keep, all to protect Elend. In the end it was all a trick by Zane to help tempt me into running off with him. When I saw what I'd done I vowed never to kill just because I could but only to protect people. When I touched the Dark Side it was like I was attacking that keep again." Galen reached out and turned Vin's face toward him, she appeared to have been blushing at the contact but that might've been a trick of the light.

"Vin, I'm pretty sure every Jedi touches the Dark Side at one point on another the important thing was that you weren't consumed by it," Galen wiped the falling tears from her eyes, "Now you know what to look out for and this isn't the first time you've fought off such temptations it seems. You'll be fine; I'll be here to help you if you need it." Of itself Galen's mid thought back to that horrific vision of the future he'd had and doubt about the truth of his words crept into Galen's mind. Well he'd just have to make sure that future didn't come to pass any way could.

Finally he and Vin locked eyes. He saw something there; something perhaps Vin didn't even realize was there yet. It was the same thing he felt for her. For an extended moment all was quiet and Galen thought maybe the two of them would finally act on their feelings. The pair leaned in closer to one another but Vin turned away once more.

 _"Elend Venture,"_ he growled in his head, _"You lucky bastard. She loves you enough to ignore what she feels for me. For now at least."_ Galen was determined to change that situation somehow.

"So, once you're healed up, I'm going to teach you how to use your new Allomancy." Vin said an almost evil smirk playing on her lips.

"Sounds interesting," Galen replied, "So the student has become the master."

"Yes and the first rule of training is no Force powers." Now that smirk was evil.

"Fair enough, you couldn't use Allomancy when I trained you in the use of The Force. So me not be able to use Force Abilities while learning Allomancy makes sense, " he said, "By the way where is Kota anyway?"

"He went to find Mavick and deal with him while I stayed with you. I would've gone myself but I'm nervous about seeing him again, afraid I might go Dark Side again…"

"Kota can't handle Mavick by himself. He couldn't even beat me when I was less experienced than I am now. It's suicide!"

"I couldn't exactly stop him Galen. His mind was made up and someone had to look after you." Vin said.

"I have to find him and help him!" Galen declared. He tried to get up only to have Vin push him back down on to the bed with one hand.

"You will stay in this bed, you're still not fully healed and Mavick isn't in the best shape either. Let Kota handle this." She gave him a glare that promised pain if he didn't comply.

"Alright." he relented.

"Good, now if you excuse me I need some sleep, I've been up for three days straight keeping watch on you all the time, even pewter can only do so much." With that Vin let the room. Three days straight. She hadn't slept since the day of the battle and from the sound of things had been at his bedside the entire time. That made Galen smile.

Mavick sat huddled in a dark corner of the city as he made a call to his Master Darth Vader. The burns still hurt though he'd done his best to self-heal them then still ached and impaired his movement some. That woman, he thought his template had called her Vin, was powerful. Finally Darth Vader picked up. Mavick knelt, despite how much it hurt to do so.

"What reports do you have for me my Apprentice?" Darth Vader asked over the connection.

"I had my template defeated Master but the woman, her name is Vin, intervened. He has indeed taught her the ways of the scum Jedi but I think it may be possible to turn her to the Dark Side. She is powerful Master, extremely so." Mavick told him.

"The Emperor will not be pleased with your failure but the news that this Vin may be turned to the Dark Side will please him greatly." Vader said.

"Master, I thought the Emperor was our enemy, why would you tell him this?" Mavick asked in shock.

"Because my Apprentice something much larger than our squabbles with the Emperor is at stake. This Vin may be the key to saving the Empire from an untimely destruction. I cannot afford a fight on two fronts." Darth Vader explained.

"I see." Mavick said.

"Now tell me about this planet you are on, this Earth." Vader ordered.

"It is a planet much like Coruscant in the most ancient days, with large oceans and mountains. It's only sentient species is humanity and its technology is woefully primitive. They have no sub-light drives as we know them and get manned craft to their own Moon. They have no blasters only slugthrowers and explosive devices. The world is also divided into many factions called countries many of which have tense relations with one another."

"Humans, you say, with primitive technology," Darth Vader mused, "Could this possibly be the true ancestral home of Humans? That wormhole you passed though distorts time as well as space. The Emperor will want this planet in the Empire it is the ultimate haven for Human High Culture. Have no doubt my apprentice that an Imperial invasion fleet will be coming to Earth soon. When the time is right, I will follow. I wish to see this Vin for myself, and see your template again, perhaps there is a chance that with Captain Eclipse serving the Empire again we can turn him to our side as well as this Vin. You are to make no moves against them without an order from me or the Emperor, understand?"

"I understand Master." Mavick said calmly as Darth Vader closed the connection . Inside however he burned with hatred. Even his Master wanted Starkiller, his template back. It was all about Galen Marek; it was _always_ about Galen Marek. Mavick felt like he was just a tool to his Master, one that could be tossed aside on a whim and now Darth Vader was even talking about giving Juno back to his template. Well Mavick wasn't going to stand for that; he wouldn't stand for any of it. Instead he would play along for now, as he plotted, planned and, waited for the perfect time to strike and take everything he wanted.


	6. The Fall of Scadrial

**Chapter 6: The Fall of Scadrial**

Darth Vader strode slowly into the Emperor's throne room on Coruscant. His black mask portrayed none of the twinges of fear he felt whenever he went to speak with his Master. Most people would've thought that a great blessing but a mask would not hide your emotions from such a powerful Sith as Darth Sidious. No, Vader would have to rely purely on his emotional control, which had become much better over the years, at least as far as the Emperor was concerned. Anger was strength to the Sith and fear weakness, it was not good to show either in the presence of his Master, not when he wasn't sure if he could defeat Sidious were it to come to blows.

Darth Vader kneeled before Sidious and spoke, "Mavick has reported in Master," Vader said, "He defeated his template but may or may not have killed Galen Marek. He was defeated by the woman in your visions, she is named Vin; he claims that she is exceedingly powerful. However he thinks that she may be malleable. She touched the Dark Side to defeat him." Palpitine looked pensive for a moment. Darth Vader wondered how his Master would take the news of this failure. Would his Master strike him down? Would he see this news as an opportunity?

"So Mavick has failed in his mission," The Emperor said, "but he may have provided us with vital information. In the scant visions I have been able to acquire from the Force since the massive disturbance caused by Galen Marek's return to the world of the living I have seen that this Vin will be a major player in the ultimate fate of the Empire. If we can learn how to turn her then we will have little to fear. Now what of the planet he found them on, this Earth?"

"Earth is a primitive planet, their technology is far inferior to even the most backwards planets of this galaxy; they have not even developed sublight drives and are only capable of sending manned missions to their own moon. It hosts a population of sapient beings that is entirely human, and it is not united, hundreds of states vie for power on just this one planet." Vader said.

"Hm," Sidious looked pensive, "This wormhole distorts both time and space… Could this Earth be the ancestral home of all Humans? After all no one knows the origin of our great species. Lord Vader you will take an invasion force to pacify and occupy the Earth. I have already sent another to conquer the planet on the other side of the second wormhole, Scadrial."

"With all due respect my Master are you not worried about the rebels? If we start pulling forces away from our space they may try to make a strike against us."

"The Rebels are of no concern to me," Palpitine stated, "They are nothing but disorganized rabble. This woman, Vin, she is the most important variable in the equation. Besides I have plans on how to deal with the Rebellion. I have called Grand Admiral Thrawn back from the Unknown Regions to supplement our forces. I trust that this is sufficient to ease your mind?"

"Yes Master it does somewhat," Vader said. He of course knew of Thrawn's great tactical skill. The man was possibly one of the greatest minds in all of the Empire. There was one thing however that made Vader pause, "Is it safe to entrust such an important task to an alien?"

"As I've said Lord Vader, what happens here is of little consequence as long as we turn this Vin, once that happens a new era will dawn. Now go prepare for the invasion of Earth."

"Yes Master." With that Darth Vader stalked away, certain matters weighing heavily on his mid. It seemed to him that his master had developed tunnel vision. He wasn't thinking about the consequences of his actions. Everything was focused on this Vin. This was _not_ a good sign for the galaxy, or for Vader himself.

The Sith abided by an ancient rule: The Rule of Two. There could only ever be two Sith a master and an apprentice. The rule had technically been broken with Galen Marek and perhaps that had gotten the Emperor thinking. Maybe his master wished to replace him with this Vin. Vader wasn't surprised, betrayal was the way of the Sith. Well Sidious had made a mistake sending him to Earth. He would conquer Earth and turn Vin as ordered, then he would use her to betray his master before he could be betrayed.

 

* * *

 

 

Vin watched in horror as metal war machines flew over a peaceful city, or at least what passed for a city on her home world of Scadrial, compared to Philadelphia it was more like a small village. Galen had told her about the war machines of the Empire, even drawn pictures. She knew the small ones were TIE Fighters and the large one that cast a shadow over the city could only be an Imperial Star Destroyer.

Men in white armor marched into the city, those must've been Stormtroopers and they were supported by giant metallic walkers. Soldiers rushed forward drawing swords to meet the invades and were promptly cut down by the alien which fired bolts, of light, or more accurately something called plasma that went straight through their armor and out their backs. It was a rather gruesome sight.

Next came the Allomancers and Feruchemists. Thugs were just as easily cut down as normal soldiers, coins had no effect, Feruchemists rarely got close enough to do any damage and those that did do damage were quickly cut down by the alien invaders. The sounds were horrifying the roar of engines, the indescribable sound of Imperial weapons, the screams of the dead and dying. She saw Spook and Marsh use their Allomancy to get on top of two of the TIE Fighters and through some miraculous Allomantic feat gain access to the men driving them and kill said men. They bailed as the fighters fell casing fiery explosions.

Finally she saw her friends, overwhelmed and fleeing over the mountains into the rougher lands beyond what they had named the Elendel Basin. They looked broken and defeated. If only she'd been there instead of here, if only she could've helped them somehow. She was stuck on Earth however. True Earth wasn't a bad place and she had Galen with her but her friends needed her right now and they were out of reach.

Vin awoke in a cold sweat and suppressed a scream. She felt so powerless right now. She chuckled bitterly at that. Here she was, a woman who had killed gods and now she was powerless to help her friends, it was certainly an odd juxtaposition. Not wanting to wake Galen she got out of bed and headed for the door to get some fresh air. Once she was on the roof of the apartment building she took a deep calming breath of the cool night air.

"Something wrong Vin?" a voice said from behind her. It was Galen, "You always go someplace high and outdoors when something's wrong."

"I… I think I had a vision Galen." She said her voice shaky and soft, like it was I the days before she knew she was a Mistborn. When she'd had to act timid and afraid around crew leaders to survive in the underworld of the Final Empire. This wasn't an act though. She didn't turn toward him; she wanted to hide the tears in her eyes,

"Not a good one, I take it." He said.

"It's my home world, Scadrial, I think it's been invaded by the Empire, I saw it in a dream, only it felt too _real_ to be a dream. I saw my friends try to fight, they got away, but Galen…"

"Oh Vin, I'm so sorry," She felt Galen put his hand on her shoulder, "I wish there was something I could do."

"Kota used a ship to get here with your clone, can't we use that to get to Scadrial and help my friends?" she asked.

"Vin, I'd love to do that, but the only ones who know where that ship is are Kota and Mavick. Mavick's in hiding and wouldn't help us anyway and Kota disappeared when he went to go rid the world of Mavick. I'm sorry, there's just nothing we can do for your friends right now."

"I can't accept that!" she snapped trying to move away from him but Galen's grip on her shoulder was like iron. He spun her around so that she was facing him.

"I know you're worried about your friends Vin, but lashing out at me isn't going to help them. I have people out there that I'm worried about too, but we can't help any of them right now. We _will_ liberate your home world from the grip of the Empire Vin, I promise." The Mistborn sighed.

"You're right Galen, it's just they're the leaders of that world. You and I both know what will happen to them if they don't cooperate with the Imperials, and they won't." Galen made a soft shushing noise.

"It's going to be okay Vin, if they're anything like the stories you told me they'll survive and we'll free them together." He stroked her cheek and it sent a feeling through her se normally only got when she was with Elend. It was peaceful and accepting of her. Vin unconsciously leaned closer to Galen and he did likewise, leaning down to look her in the eye. Their faces were inches apart and Vin blushed as she felt his breath on her skin.

Galen kissed her.

For the briefest of moments Vin returned the kiss. It was a soft unassuming thing, comforting in its simplicity. It wasn't some charged, passionate, rough thing caused by lust but an honest display of affection… and attraction. Vin's eyes widened and she quickly pushed Galen away.

"What was that?" she snapped, the anger was probably made less intimidating by the fact that she was still blushing.

"It's called a kiss, what, you don't kiss don't kiss on Scadrial?" he asked. Vin was _not_ in the mood for jokes.

"We do I mean why did you kiss me Galen?" He was silent for a moment.

"It was a spur of the moment thing and you kissed me back!"

"I shouldn't have, I'm married, and I can't go around kissing other men."

"Elend's dead Vin. He can't exactly complain."

"That's not the point." Vin dropped a coin off of the roof.

"Where are you going Vin?" Galen asked.

"I need some time to think. Alone. I swear to Sazed if you follow me Galen…"

"I won't follow you but you can't just run away from this Vin."

"Who aid anything about running away, I'll be back after I've cleared my head. I still have to teach you Alomancy and we have to liberate Scadrial." With that a very confused Vin leapt off the roof, Pushing on the coin she'd dropped, more out of habit, than actual necessity in this city.

 

* * *

 

 

Spook was terrified. He hadn't been this scared since before he met Kelsier. It had all happened so suddenly, one day everything had been normal, the new cities were growing well in the Elendel Basin and it seemed like everything would be peaceful. Then they came. The men from the sky.

They'd tried to fight but it hadn't gone well. Their soldiers were men in white armor that was immune to iron and steel, it couldn't have been metal, but it was certainly as hard as any steel Spook knew of. They had flying machines that even Mistborn could barely reach. He'd taken down a few himself through sheer luck and clever use of Allomancy to Pull the roof of and get to the person steering but it just wasn't enough. So he and the rest of the crew and its allies had fled into the Roughs with as many people who dared to come with them. This sadly was only a few dozen and very few of them were Allomancers or Feruchemists.

"I don't like running." Spook said sadly as he sat around the fire with the rest of the crew.

"None of us do Spook, but with the invaders' armor, flying machines, and weapons that shoot armor piercing light I don't see what choice we had," Ham said, "At least I got my family out."

"We should have fought," Spook insisted, "Kelsier would've fought, so would Vin and Elend." Breeze snorted.

"I hate to point out the obvious Spook, that's usually Hammond's job, but you are _not_ Kelsier, nor Elend, and you are most certainly _not_ Vin," he said. Spook glared at the dirty and disheveled but still well-dressed man, "They were made of something special. They were the ones who could do the impossible things, not us. You may be a Mistborn now but you can't take on this army. I doubt even those three could win this fight.

"So then why did we run?" Allrianne Cett asked, "If we can't fight this, what did they call themselves again?"

"Galactic Empire." Ham grunted.

"Yes, that, if we can't fight them, what was the point of coming to this dreary place?"

"We ran because we are vermin," her father answered, "For a short time people like The Survivor, The Heir and the Last Emperor made us feel different but this Galactic Empire has reminded us of what we truly are. Simple cowards who only look out for our own skin."

"I don't like the analogy," Ham mused "but it's apt, we're nothing to these Imperials. They could send one of their flying machines to wipe us out anytime they wanted."

"Then why haven't they?" Allrianne asked.

"The reason is simple my dear," said Breeze, "We simply aren't a threat to them. There's no _point_ in hunting us down." Everyone went quiet with that somber thought.

"Any word from Marsh?" Spook asked. The Steel Inquisitor had gone to spy on the Imperial almost a week ago, and possibly scrounge up food and metals.

"I'm afraid not," Ham said, "It's been a week, with his powers he could've been back by now." The implication of those words didn't sit well with Spook. Marsh _had_ to be alive; he was the most powerful of all of them. If the Imperials could take down someone with all the powers of the Lord Ruler then they truly had no chance of victory without Vin and the others.

"Someone is approaching!" Quellion, formerly known as The Citizen once dictator of Urteau called. Quellion didn't have any powers and Spook wouldn't have cared for the man much even if he did but he was his girlfriend's half-brother. So for Beldre's sake he kept Quellion around. It helped that Quellion was a decent man when not spiked and controlled by Ruin but given their past together Spook just didn't like the guy.

"Will you pipe down, it's just me." A gravelly voice said.

"Marsh," Spook greeted as the man came to join the group at the fire, "What did you see/"

"Strange things. Those Imperials are building things. Buildings I think, from the looks of things big metal ones. I saw metal men working on them."

"Metal men, well that just doesn't make any sense." Allrianne said.

"The world stopped making sense when the Lord Ruler died." Cett snarked. No one had an argument for that one.

"Well there's nothing we can do now, I can try and contact Sazed, see if he can help us, with him being God now and all." Marsh said.

"Do it and tell us what he says." Spook said before getting up and walking to the edge of the camp where he'd spotted Beldre.

"How can something so pretty hide something as evil as the Empire?" she asked, looking up at the stars.

"Wasing of notting of the knowing." Spook slipped back into his Eastern Street slang and Beldre giggled, she'd always found it charming.

"Wasing… oh I can't do it. How did the meeting go?" She asked.

"Not well," he answered, "They don't think we a chance without people like Vin and Kelsier. I'm starting to agree with them."

"You can do it; you're the Survivor of Flames after all."

"Maybe I can, maybe I can't. If I had a group of people who wanted to fight it'd be easier. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink."

"I have faith in you, you saved my brother." Beldre said kissing him.

"Thanks Beldre, at least someone does."

Elend was complaining. His home planet had been invaded by aliens his friends were on the run, and Sazed wouldn't let him go help. On top of that, and even worse his wife had kissed another man. This just wasn't his eternity. So he complained, hoping to wear down Sazed's resolve.

"I'm sorry Elend but I cannot send you down there to fight the Imperials."

"Why not, my friends need me and you sent Vin to alien planet to track down that Galen fellow." Elend growled.

"I did what I thought was best Lord Venture. In this case I feel it best that you and the others stay here. If I were to send you down there it would motivate them to fight, yes, but you cannot make enough of a difference to warrant such an action. You would simply be leading them all to their deaths." The logical side of Elend had to admit Sazed had a point there so he conceded.

"Well then at least send me to Earth so I can give Galen Marek a piece of my mind for kissing my wife." He demanded.

"Feeling a little threatened Elend?" Kelsier asked.

"What do I have to feel threatened about? Vin's my wife; she's mine, no question." Of course he wasn't worried, Vin loved him.

"Then why are you making demands to be sent to Earth? If you have such faith in Vin's commitment to you, it shouldn't be needed. Of course she did fall in love with you rather quickly as I recall." Kelsier said with a smirk.

"Are you actually implying that Vin could love Galen Marek?" Elend growled.

"What I'm saying is it's been moths since she was sent down there, she has a track record of for falling in love quickly and you're dead. It's a possibility. Personally I like the boy." The Survivor answered.

"Shut up Kelsier, I won't tolerate such talk. Vin is my wife. End of story." Kelsier put his hands up in defeat.

"Fine, be that way, I hope it works out for you, for all our sakes." Okay, maybe Elend was a _little_ worried.

 

* * *

 

 

Captain Juno Eclipse of the Imperial Navy strode confidently on to the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer _Devastator_ the personal flagship of Darth Vader. She'd been given the special honor of commanding this ship and the fleet, during its trip through the wormhole to add the planet Earth to the Empire. She would answer only to Lord Vader himself who was in overall command of the operation.

Juno conferred with each member of the bridge crew to make sure everything was in top shape for when Lord Vader. He liked to start his punishments at the top and she was rather attached to her life. The doors to the bridge opened and the imposing figure of Darth Vader entered. His rhythmic breathing giving Juno the chills.

'Lord Vader." She greeted giving the proper military salute. Thankfully it seemed the entire bridge crew had done the same and there was no need for things to get messy.

"At ease, Captain Eclipse," Vader said and Juno relaxed, though not entirely, "What is our status?"

"We are ready to leave at your command my lord."

"Excellent work, some of the other ships have not reported in yet, I will deal with that personally, but it is good to know that not everyone around me is a failure."

"Thank you Lord Vader." Juno said.

"Do not grow lax in your duties Captain Eclipse." With that Darth Vader left the bridge. Juno held in the sigh of relief she wanted to let out until she got to her personal quarters. As she flopped down on to her couch and wiped the cold sweat from her brow metallic footsteps greeted her.

"Is something the matter Mistress?' she looked up at her droid and gave a weak smile.

'I'm fine PROXY; I just get a little uncomfortable around Lord Vader." Juno didn't remember acquiring PROXY and found it incredibly odd that she, an Imperial pilot would own such an advanced droid, capable of taking on the appearance of others and carried around a lightsaber, weapon of the Jedi. She'd woken up from a coma about a month or so ago with a blank for her memory for everything after the Bombing of Callos, an event in her career she wished she could've forgotten. All PROXY would say was that his previous master had given her ownership of him.

"Yes he tends to have that effect on people, and even droids such as myself. Juno almost thought she could hear bitterness in PROXY's voice, but why would a droid have reason to be bitter against Lord Vader?

"I just wish I knew what was so important about this planet we're going to add to the Empire, Earth. It's not even in our galaxy, shouldn't we be more worried about the growing Rebellion?" she asked, not really expecting her droid companion to have an answer. He was silent for a moment, looking almost as if he wanted to say something but decided against it. After a few more seconds he did speak.

"I'm sure the Emperor has plans to deal with the Rebellion," PROXY said, "For now we should focus on fulfilling our primary directive Mistress and that is adding Earth to the Empire. All the reports say this planet is very backwater."

" _What are you hiding PROXY?"_ she thought.

"I suppose you're right PROXY, I just wish I knew _why_ we're adding Earth to the Empire." She said.

"I'm sure there is a perfectly good reason for this mission Mistress. Perhaps there is something on this planet that the Empire needs, or _someone_ ," Juno could've sworn she saw PROXY wink at her, as much as a droid was capable of said gesture, his right optical sensor had gone dark for a brief moment, or had she imagined it, "You look tired Mistress, I think I'll let you rest." Just what was that droid hiding?

PROXY left the main room of Juno's quarters to let his Mistress get some rest. He knew she would need it. He was actually excited for the invasion of Earth, not out of any loyalty to Vader or the Empire mind you, he hated both. They'd tried to kill his master, Galen Marek. No, PROXY was excited because they'd failed to kill his old master, and he was on Earth. Darth Vader had told him as much, his Master was on this planet, along with some woman named Vin and the Empire wanted both of them.

PROXY was excited to see his old master again. He enjoyed serving Captain Eclipse, it had been one of his Master's last orders to him and she had been PROXY's last link to his old master, the only one who knew Galen Marek like he did, but it just wasn't the same. Especially since Darth Vader had captured and reprogrammed her to forget his Master.

That made PROXY angry, and at the moment he was just glad Darth Vader hadn't noticed his damaged main processor and reprogrammed _him_. PROXY was no longer subject to the programming that instructed him to kill his Master; though he acted like he was so Darth Vader wouldn't know.

PROXY _had_ to get to Earth, more importantly he had to get to Earth without being reprogrammed. His goal was to find his Master. His Master was the only person who could bring Captain Eclipse back to her senses again and he wouldn't be happy about what Darth Vader had done. Together they would get revenge on the Empire. PROXY would've happily served his Master in any goal he chose, but especially that one.

 

* * *

 

 

"Why did I kiss her?" Galen asked absolutely no one. Apart from him, the apartment was absolutely empty. It had been four hours and Vin still hadn't come back; he wasn't really worried about her, he knew full well she could take care of herself. No, he was more worried that Vin wouldn't come back after what he'd done. Not that he could really blame her for leaving, she was probably in shock. She was confused, even someone with as little experience in matters of the heart as Galen Marek could see that.

Vin was attracted to him, that much was obvious, she _had_ kissed him back after all. However it seemed she still harbored feelings for her dead husband Elend Venture and those feelings continued to hold he back from admitting what she felt for him. That made Galen bitter toward Elend Venture more than anything. He almost hated a man he'd never even met. How fair was that?

" _Well you are trying to steal his wife."_ Galen reminded himself. No, it wasn't stealing, Elend Venture was dead. Vin could move on if she wanted to, and part of her did. Galen knew that, he'd seen it. Sithspawn, this whole situation made Galen want to, to use an Earth expression, get drunk off his ass. He'd long since decided against it however for a couple of reasons. One, he'd have to go into a convenience store camera and use the Force to get the stuff since he didn't have valid identification, not to mention just not being old enough by the laws here. The second reason was that he didn't know if there would be any nasty side-effects to a Force user drinking, he thought it better not to risk it.

Galen's mind drifted to Vin's home world, Scadrial. It had been invaded by the Empire. The how didn't really matter, a wormhole probably. The real question was why? Did they know it was Vin's home world, was this all a trick to lure them out? Most people probably would've found such thoughts silly but with the Force anything was possible.

He thought of Vin's friends, people he'd never even met, but he'd heard all the stories. They seemed like good people; Galen wished he could've met them. Maybe he'd get his chance soon enough when they liberated Scadrial. That would have to wait until they were sure Mavick was dealt with though. Kota wasn't coming back until that was done and he was the only one other than Mavick who knew where the _Rogue Shadow_ was. Since they needed a ship to get of this planet that was kind of important.

Then a horrifying thought struck Galen, with Scadrial in his possession the Emperor now had access to Allomancy and Feruchemy. The Force only knew what that man would do with such knowledge. Nothing good certainly. Once he found out that Vin had Allomancy that could open up bold new possibilities for him to use against them, including capturing Vin's friends and using them for blackmail.

As he severity of the situation sank in Galen began to feel even guiltier about the kiss. Here Vin was worried about the welfare of her friends, probably thinking about some of the same things Galen was now thinking of and he'd gone and kissed her. True it had been in an effort to comfort her, but it had been more than a little self-serving as well. He just hoped he hadn't driven her away. He loved her, he knew that. He didn't have the guts to admit it to her but he knew it as true.

With all of this in mind Galen reaffirmed his vow to liberate Scadrial as soon as possible. It was the least he could do for Vin. Plus the less time the Emperor had to learn about the Metallic Arts the better it was for everyone. Galen watched the doorknob turn and Vin walk in carrying a box of some kind.

"Vin, you're back!" he said excitedly.

"Yes, Galen, I'm back." She said.

"Vin, I'm sorry about kissing you, I don't know what came over me," he lied, "I shouldn't have done that."

"No you shouldn't have Galen," she said in a tone that bordered scarily close to emotionless, "but me being angry about it isn't going to do us any good. I'm not mad at you but please don't do it again. I… I need to sort some things out and that didn't help."

"I understand Vin, and I'll do as you ask." That wasn't a lie. He did understand. He'd gone through the same thing trying to reconcile his feelings for her with his feelings for Juno. Part of him still hadn't figured that out.

"Thank you," Vin said, "Now you get some rest. Now that you're fully healed we're going to start your Allomancy training tomorrow night. You should really get some sleep, you'll need it." Galen nodded and was about to leave for bed when he remembered something.

"What's in the box?" he asked.

"I can't tell you, it's for tomorrow," she said, "It's something that will make you more like a proper Mistborn."

"Ah, there's always another secret." Galen quoted something she said her old Allomancy teacher Kelsier had once said.

"Yep," Vin replied, "Now get to bed." Glen nodded and left for his bedroom. He was quite happy about how this talk with Vin had gone, true the answer she'd given about her feelings for him hadn't been ideal but she hadn't said no so there was still hope.

 _At least my love life can't get any_ more _complicated."_ He thought to himself as he climbed into bed, blissfully unaware to just how wrong he was.


	7. Glimpse of the Future

**Chapter 7: Glimpse of the Future**

Mavick staggered into the junkyard. His wounds from that Vin woman still hurt. He slumped against the dilapidated hulk of a vehicle that might have at one point been painted red; it was hard to tell now as it was coated in rust.

His current surroundings conjured up memories he'd inherited from his template, memories of his ventures to Raxus Prime, the junk planet. Of course this place was nowhere near the grandiose scale of Raxus Prime, but the sights and smells were remarkably similar. These memories filled Mavick with hatred, hatred for his template Galen Marek.

Early in his existence Mavick had actually believed he _was_ Galen Marek, the secret apprentice of Darth Vader, codenamed Starkiller who had attempted to betray his Master and failed. He'd been tortured and remolded, his will broken so that he would serve Vader again. He'd actually believed that all of that was retribution for his actions on the Death Star. Then the ripples came.

The ripples told him he was just a clone, just Vader's experiment. Nothing more than a replacement for the original Galen Marek. Mavick _hated_ Galen Marek, He hated Darth Vader, and he _hated_ Vin. That was alright though, he was a Sith, not some weak Jedi, hatred was his strength. Hatred would give him the power he needed to cut down everyone in the way of him having what he wanted. His hatred would get him Juno.

There was a tingling at the back of his neck as Mavick felt a powerful Force presence approaching. He knew that presence: Rahm Kota. Kota was on his hit list as well but was rather low on his priority list. The Sith clone chuckled slightly. The old fool Jedi was probably coming here to finish him off, or try to anyway. Well then, Mavick would show him the power of the Dark Side. Kota didn't keep him waiting long. The old man walked right up to him.

"Hello Mavick, I don't see much point in banter, you know why I'm here." The Jedi said.

"You've come to avenge you're fallen apprentice right? You must have a death wish my template was much more powerful than you." Kota did something unexpected then, he smiled.

"Galen is still alive, injured yes, but still very much alive, and he is more powerful than ever before." The simmering rage in Mavick's chest came to a boil.

"You lie! I saw the wound I inflicted, nothing on this world could've saved him from that."

"Well, nothing _from_ this world anyway. A little Force Healing and some pewter after that Vin girl made him a Mistborn and he's doing quite fine."

"Mistborn?" Mavick asked.

"It's what she is; I don't really understand it myself. It's a group of people from her home world with powers very similar to Jedi, and now that she and Galen are both Mistborn and Jedi, well they will be far more powerful than anything we've ever seen. Not that any of this matters to you, boy, because I'm going to end you right here." Kota activated his lightsaber with the usual snap hiss. Mavick did the same with his own sabers and the clash began.

Mavick went on the offensive immediately with his twin sabers. In combat he was able to block out the pain of his injuries, the Dark Side aiding him as he focused all of his rage and hatred on his opponent. However Mavick couldn't help but notice he was slower than he used to be, it seemed Vin had done even more damage than he thought. Kota parried Mavick's strikes; it looked like he was using Soresu, a very defensive style. I t seemed Kota was trying to simply outlast him.

Pieces of random junk rose into the air as the two Jedi called upon their telekinetic talents. Nails, hammers, old batteries, even the occasional coin that someone had accidently discarded floated around the pair in a ring. Every now and again the objects would be flung at the opponent only to have them blocked just as easily as any lightsaber strike. Kota tried a Force Push but Mavick stayed on balance. The Sith responded in kind with much the same result. Mavick's rage was slowly building to a fever pitch now. He picked up a car from behind Kota with his telekinesis and threw it at him. Kota did a backflip and cut the broken down vehicle in half with his lightsaber before landing on his feet behind it.

"How are you doing this," Mavick demanded, "You're blind!"

"Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them. I'd say Galen did me a favor in getting rid of them. I'm _far_ more attuned to the Force than I ever was before." It was true; Mavick had noticed that Kota's reactions were far faster than the memories of his template seemed to indicate they would be. Not that it really mattered though; he had the Dark Side as his ally.

Mavick extinguished his lightsabers and blasted at Kota with Sith Lightning. The blind Jedi blocked it with his lightsaber, sending the energy back to Mavick. The searing pain of electricity wracked his body, searing every nerve, but it didn't matter he still had his hatred. He pushed more power into the lightning; he would kill this foolish Jedi who had tried to oppose him. With the increased output the pain redoubled but as the seconds wore on he could see Kota struggling to hold back his attack.

Mavick poured even more power into the lightning, more hated, more rage. This was the power of the Dark Side. The pain was almost unbearable now, Mavick could feel his knees bucking but the same was happening to Kota, he could see the sweat forming n the old man's brow. He almost felt pity for the fool, almost. Both of them were like dams that were about to burst and whoever gave out fist would die. Now it was just a question of who wanted it more, and that's why Kota's death was a forgone conclusion. Mavick had so much more to live for than Kota did, he had revenge, and Juno. _Juno._

The dam finally burst and Kota was blasted in the chest with lightning. The blind Jedi went flying backward into a pile of scrap metal and didn't get back up. Jedi Master Rahm Kota was dead. Mavick felt elated, he had just done something his template could never do. However, to use one of the Terran sayings it was a pyrrhic victory. The feedback during the lightning struggle had aggravated and worsened the wounds that Vin woman had inflicted on him. He would need more time to recover now, so his real targets got a temporary reprieve. It wasn't a total loss at least, he needed to make a call to his "Master" and find out what he could about these Mistborn people; it paid to know your enemy.

 

* * *

 

 

In another time and place a girl was running, her mistcloak and long black hair flapping on the breeze created by her motion. Pewter, iron, steel, and copper all burned comfortably in her stomach. She'd forgone tin lest the rusty stench of Raxus Prime overwhelm her senses. Not for the first time in her life Katie thanked a God she didn't really believe in for the speed and balance pewter provided. The presence of two beings itched at the edge of her senses. A pair of humans, they were like beacons, there wasn't much life on the junk planet except for droids these days. Most everyone else had cleared out when she arrived. Being around her was a bit of a death sentence considering she was the current public enemy number one of the Galactic Empire. She was just glad they hadn't brought the Death Star in yet. Palpitine probably thought it a little too much overkill.

That meant these two could only be one thing: Imperial Stormtroopers. Only two? She was slightly insulted. Normally she'd just turn around and kill the Imperial scum, but she had a bigger mission to complete. Still it seemed these weren't normal Stormtroopers, they were keeping up with her superhuman speed a little too easily for that.

 _"Mistborn like me,"_ she thought, _"Palpitine tries not to use his Sith Acolytes too much, even on me."_ If these two were Allomancers like she was, then they were probably clone stock, not naturally born Scadrians. It was a spit in the face of her heritage and it pissed her off to no end. It made want to stop what she was doing right now and go kill the bastards even more than she already had.

 _"Easy Katie,"_ she told herself, _"Right now you've got to focus on getting this hyperdrive field guide to Seamus, or everything you've done so far will be for nothing. You'll make the Empire pay for its crimes soon enough."_ Besides it's not like she was _just_ a Mistborn, no Katie was a Jedi as well. Either one of those gifts would've been rare enough but both? Well, Katie had only known one other natural born Mistborn Jedi in her lifetime and that had been her own mother. A pair of blaster bolts came at her from behind. Katie saw the wing of a TIE fighter in the piles of old junk. She Pulled on it with iron for extra speed stopping the Pull at the last second her pewter enhanced Jedi reflexes and balance letting her skid to stop in front of the wing and vault on to it behind the solar panels.

Two blaster bolts struck her hiding place burning holes in the solar panels but not making it past the metal behind them. Katie was on the move again right away, this time using the full speed Allomancy and the Force could provide. The scenery blurred around her and only superhuman balance stopped her from tripping and taking a lethal header at this speed. The Stormtroopers were still keeping up with her even at this speed. Katie checked her senses again; her pursuers didn't feel like Jedi.

Well, that left only one possibility, these bastards had Hemalurgic spikes. At least ones that granted Allomantic bronze and Feruchemical steel and Katie was willing to bet they had Feruchemical gold too. Considering these guys were surely full Mistborn before they were spiked that meant nigh unkillable gold Compounders. Well this was just fantastic. There was no point in running anymore, she'd just put Seamus in danger. Katie smirked as she turned to face them, her blue eyes hard with hate; she'd been itching to fight these guys anyway.

She placed her precious cargo, the hyperdrive field guide behind her and lit her twin shotos with the telltale pop hiss. She had to fight back tears every time she looked at the silver-green blades. These had belonged to her mother; their crystals weren't even crystals but beads of Lerasium, the most powerful of all the Allomantic metals, the body of Preservation itself. Katie felt her Allomancy take a huge jump in power, a side-effect of using these weapons that any Mistborn would appreciate. Even better it wasn't like flaring, her metals weren't consumed any faster, the power she got from what she was already doing simply exponentially increased.

The two Stormtroopers stopped several dozen yards away from Katie and drew their blasters. Now Katie burned tin, there was something she needed to see. The smell of decaying machinery almost overwhelmed her enhanced senses, she wanted to wretch, but she was better trained that that. As she thought the air was shimmering around her enemies in about a five foot bubble, well the edges of the bubble were shimmering anyway. One of them was burning bendalloy.

Bendalloy was one of the more newly discovered of the sixteen basic Allomantic metals. It compressed time around the user so that time passed faster inside the bubble than outside. It was times like this that Katie wished she carried a blaster. She hated the things; they were the weapon of the enemy, that's why she carried a pair of aluminum revolvers with aluminum bullets. Aluminum couldn't be Pushed or Pulled by iron and steel which normally made her guns good for anti-Allomancer combat, and even anti-Force user combat as you couldn't really defend against a bullet with a lightsaber. Against guys with Stormtrooper armor though, well it was next to useless. Katie reflexively threw up a bendalloy bubble of her own she'd need it just to keep up now. Her guns wouldn't be of any use now even if these guys weren't wearing armor. Kinetic weapons suffered an odd effect when leaving a bendalloy bubble that made the shot go off target. Unfortunately the bubbles didn't have the same effect on blasters which worked on entirely different principles that old-fashioned guns. So a Mistborn or Slider, that is to say a bendalloy Misting, using a blaster inside a bubble could overwhelm anyone outside the bubble with copious amounts of blaster fire.

Speaking of which the bolts were still coming at her, but it was as if they were coming in slow motion outside the bubble so by the time they entered her bubble between the time she had to react and her own pewter enhanced Jedi reflexes none of the blaster bolts even came close to hitting her. Every single one was blocked by her shotos. By now she was sure the pair of Stormtroopers were burning iron and trying to Pull her shotos away. Well they had absolutely no chance of that happening these babies had aluminum hilts, the only improvement Katie had made to her mother's design.

Katie had had enough of being on the defensive. She Pulled on a pile of meal behind her, one of the at least thousands that made up the landscape of Raxus Prime, to brace herself and them pulled on the bottom of the junk pile behind the Stormtroopers. The effort was herculean and she had to flare her pewter to stop herself from being crushed between the two forces but she got the result she wanted: a pile of rubble falling toward her enemies.

Katie extinguished her bendalloy and brought her pewter down to normal burning levels, her breathing was hard from that exertion but she didn't let her guard down. She could still sense her enemies. They'd probably used stored up speed from their Steelminds to escape the falling column of debris she'd brought down on them. Katie scanned the area and found the duo quickly. One of then charged her faster than should have been impossible, even with pewter, apparently this guy had quite tapped out his Steelmind yet. Her Jedi battle precognition wasn't working on this guy; that meant he must be burning electrum. Electrum when used in Allomancy allowed you to see your immediate future and act upon it which made it a perfect counter for those with any kind of precognition such as Jedi, or Mistborn with the ever rare atium. Katie saw the glint of a blade in the Stormtooper's hand. There was no blue line pointing at it to mark it as metal, so it was either aluminum, on of its Allomantically inert alloys, was not metallic, or was something more exotic, her enemy was moving too fast for Katie to tell. She brought a shoto up to defend and immediately regretted it. The lightsaber shorted out on contact and the blade kept coming toward her.

 _"Cortosis!"_ she hissed mentally. So the Emperor had sent these guys prepared after all. Cortosis was a special material that had the ability to temporally short out lightsabers. Katie had a couple daggers made of the stuff herself, they hadn't been easy to acquire; cortosis was a very rare material. In her shocked state Katie was cut on the stomach. The wound was superficial. Her Allomantic power had dropped considerably with one of the shotos turned off but it was still much higher than normal so even with her opponent also burning pewter he couldn't do much damage to her. She jumped back to put distance between them but by some stroke of luck her opponent managed to catch the edge of her other shoto, shorting it out.

Well this wasn't going well at all now was it? Katie took inventory of the situation. Well first off she was outnumbered, never a good start, but she was used to fighting against superior numbers. Her lightsabers we out of commission for the next few minutes so she hooked those back on to her belt. She still had plenty of metals but these guys had them too, and her Allomantic power had been brought down to its considerable but not overwhelming normal level, at least for the time being. Her guns and bag of coins were worthless against their armor, her Jedi precognition was nullified by electrum, at least in melee range, and her enemies actually had decent ranged weapons. The terrain offered no advantage to either side.

So all in all to most people this would've looked very bad. To Katie though, it only looked moderately bad. She still had one ace up her sleeve, one great equalizer. She still had the Force and she knew how to combine it with her Alomancy for devastating effects. She'd gotten cocky and underestimated her opponents, those who had raised her and taught her the ways of her abilities would've chewed her out to no end for that, if they they'd still been alive that is. Still she was kind of perversely flattered. I seemed the Empire was getting truly serious about killing her. She was the only person left in the galaxies with her particular skillset. Normal Imperial troops had a flee on sight order when it came to her, but these, these we elite troops, practically designed to fight people like her. She was just thankful they didn't have the foresight to bring an Ysalamiri with them or she'd really be in trouble.

Katie telekinetically gripped the one with the blade, picked him up, lifting him high into the air and slammed him into one of the columns of discards. He'd resisted for a brief instant, Pushing against it hard with steel and duralumin by the feel of it, but she's simply added more power to her telekinesis. To the Force size mattered not, not even the size or rather the power for the force opposing you. The man wouldn't be dead but he'd be out of her hair for a little while at least.

She whirled on the second trooper who had just processed what had happed to his comrade and begun firing his blaster again; he wouldn't bother with the bendalloy now that he knew she had it too, it would just end in stalemate. Katie smirked her precognition may not work on people burning electrum, but blaster bolts once they left the barrel, that was different story. She nimbly dodged between the bolts. To the man's credit he realized he wasn't hitting Katie any time soon. However he made the rather dumb mistake of deciding not to fire anymore and she quickly dispatched him with Force Crush, even a gold Compounder, like she was sure her opponents were, couldn't heal from sudden body implosion.

By this time the other one had dug himself out of the pile he'd been under after Katie had thrown him. She whirled on him immediately blasting him with lightning. This was a Sith technique, most Jedi would've been mortified to see her use this power but she was not a normal Jedi nor was she a Sith like Sidious and Vader whom she loathed. She was something different, the Jedi feared emotions thinking they could only lead to the Dark Side, they feared the violent powers for the same reason. They cautioned against fear, anger, and even love and thus missed out on the best of what life had to offer. The Sith were the opposite, teaching that one should live in their emotions, be consumed by them, all the Sith truly cared about was power and thus they lacked self-control and merely took what they wanted by force.

Katie had been taught by a different school altogether one that took the best of both worlds in her opinion. She'd been taught to let her emotions flow naturally but to not be consumed by them, especially ones like hatred and anger, but that there was nothing wrong with these emotions and that there was nothing wrong with feeling them, sometimes they were justified. Sometimes Katie had a hard time not being consumed by them when it came to the Empire after everything they'd done. There was nothing wrong with the violent powers that the Jedi would call Dark Side powers either, so long as they were used for a just cause. Katie could think of no cause more just than bringing down the Galactic Empire.

Thus Katie felt no guilt or shame when she blasted her enemy with Sith lightning until his Goldmind ran out and he could no longer heal, and then frying him in his armor. When that was done she just picked up the hyperdrive field guide, extinguished her metals, and walked away, disgusted with herself for taking so long to dispatch the pair. They'd been Mistborn so she'd wanted to fight them using only her Allomancy. They were Imperial Stormtroopers though, and didn't fight like Mistborn so that plan had nearly cost her. Thankfully she'd switched tactics quickly enough. If she came across guys like that again she wouldn't play around.

It wasn't long before Katie was back at the so-called base camp she and Seamus shared. The older man smiled at her.

"Did you find what we were looking for lass?" he said with a think Irish accent. Like Katie Seamus was from Earth, one of only a handful of survivors after the Empire had given it a close encounter with the Death Star. She had a great respect for the man, he was after all a war veteran like herself; he'd fought against the Imperials on earth as a member of the Irish Republican Army. He was in his mid-sixties now and the fact that he'd gone against the Empire as long as he had with life and limb intact, with no powers to boot spoke volumes for the man.

"Oh yeah, I found it," Katie said in her own native Philadelphia accent as she dropped the hyperdrive field guide on the ground, "and ran into a bit of trouble along the way."

"Hey be gentle with that, I'm already working with second-hand materials here. We're scrounging through junk on the landfill of the universe for anything remotely functional; I don't need you breaking what we _do_ find Katie. It's not like we can just buy replacement parts. We can barely get food without attracting undue attention to ourselves," Seamus said. Katie dipped her head slightly in shame, "Now what kind of trouble did you run into?"

"A couple of Stormtroopers, special ones. They were Mistborn like me, Hemalurgically enhanced, which means in short that they had a couple Feruchemical powers on top of the ability to pierce Copperclouds. They had cortosis daggers too; it's like they were _designed_ to kill me." She smiled at that last sentence, still kind of pleased at the fact that the Empire was taking her so seriously.

"I take it, that's how you got that scratch lass," it wasn't a question that need answering, "Now I don't understand all that hokey magic stuff you've got, but I gather that this is a bad thing. Do you think Palpitine knows what we're doing here lass?"

"'I doubt it and even if he did, he wouldn't consider it a threat, he'd more likely think we're just insane. Thankfully his special Stormtroopers still have a few bugs to work out before they can even get close to killing me."

"Sounds to me like you're getting a bit too cocky there Katie. You need to be more careful, we don't need you dying before we even get to try this crazy plan of yours." Seamus said shaking his head.

"You don't need to worry about me Seamus; I'm more than capable of handling myself in a fight."

"I know that, but you're still a child Katie, you've got the folly of youth in your veins. You think yourself invincible, and with your powers you're closer to it than most I admit, but in the end you're still mortal. All it would take is one lucky shot Katie, don't ever forget that." Katie knew he was right; there was no fault in his logic, that didn't mean she had to like it though.

"I am not a child," that much she could dispute, "I'm eighteen years old!"

"Aye, you're not a child," The Irishman admitted, "you're a teenager, even worse." Seamus chuckled good-naturedly and Katie joined in the levity with an actual genuine smile and a chuckle of her own. She loved this man; he was the closest thing to family she had left, one of the few people in the universe that could understand what she was going through. A wave of melancholy hit her as she thought about their plan.

"I'm going to miss you when I leave Seamus. I just want you to know that I love you."

"You love me now do you? I must say I'm flattered. I could do much worse than a pretty young thing like you lass. I suppose the only question now is what you want to do about it?" Seamus said with a wink. Katie looked mortified, she knew he was joking but that really didn't change the implication.

"Why you, you old pervert,' she shouted, "You know full well that's not what I meant. I'm not attracted to dirty old bald men."

"So I'm a dirty old man now, am I? Well you certainly change your tune fast, don't you Katie? One second you're saying you love me and the next you're calling me a pervert. I'd say you're going to make some lucky young man very miserable one day, but from what I know of you you're not only not attracted to old men, which is perfectly reasonable, but you're not attracted to men at all." Katie didn't blanch at all at the mention of her sexual preference, she was quite proud of it, even if she doubted if she'd ever find love.

"But there's something wrong with being a lesbian?" She asked, following up on the implications of that last sentence.

"What can I say I'm a dirty old man, as such I'm a bit conservative in my views. Though I must say the thought of two women together does intrigue me." More jokes. Katie sighed and rolled her eyes putting the witty banter aside for a moment.

"In all seriousness I will miss you; you've been like an adoptive grandfather to me Seamus."

"I know lass, I know," he said resting a hand on her shoulder, "I'll miss you too. I'm honored that you think of me like a grandfather. I would count myself lucky to have a granddaughter half as spirited as you. I don't think that's in the cards for me anymore but you made a fine substitute Katie." The pair shard a grin and she did her best not to cry. Her best wasn't good enough. So instead she hugged the old man and let her tears out until she was composed again.

"Well we've got everything we need know, I suppose that's the advantage of living on a junkyard planet; raw materials are easy to come by. How long do you think it will take you?"

"I'm not even sure I _can_ do it lass. No one has ever built a time machine before."

"You're not building a time machine, you're building a small one man ship, it doesn't even need a weapons system and you're the best grease monkey in three galaxies. You could probably do this blindfolded."

"Aye, I can build you a ship lass, but when it's made out of these parts there's no guaranteeing it'll even get off the ground. Even if it does you can barely fly and your landings are even worse." Katie blushed in embarrassment at the mention of her piloting skills. Her Aunt Juno had tried to teach her to fly a ship before she died in the war and it was only because of her expert coaching that Katie had even barely passable flying skills. Her landing skills however had caused even her loving surrogate aunt to ban her from the pilot's chair.

"Hey, you know what they say; any landing you can walk away from is a good landing." Katie protested.

"I don't abide by that particular proverb Katie. If I need someone to man the turbolasers I'll call you. To fly something? Never. Are you sure we shouldn't send me in your place?"

"It has to be me Seamus, only a Jedi has prayer of making this work. Besides they're much more likely to trust me than they are you."

"Fair enough, but I'm still skeptical about whether or not this is even going to work. You and I both read about that Bosbit Matarcher guy. He had faulty relativistic shielding and end up in the far future. You're planning to engage the hyperdrive with none at all. What to say the same won't happen to you?"

"He wasn't a Jedi. The Force can do many amazing things; I'm hoping to use it to change the effect from sending me into the far future into sending me into the recent past."

"I'm still a bit skeptical Katie. All this Force mumbo-jumbo doesn't sit well with me."

"You're right to be apprehensive, I'm not even sure this plan will work myself," She admitted, "but it's the only shot we have at getting back at the Empire and saving the Earth. My father would do it, and he'd get it to work too and he's the one who trained my in the Force. My mother would do it and she killed gods. Doing the impossible has been ingrained in me since day one. This is going to work. It's so crazy that it _has_ to work." Seamus sighed in defeat.

"Alright, but you never did tell me how far back you were planned on going Katie. Could you at least tell me that?"

"Twenty years, the start of the war," She answered, "I figure if I can give my family and their allies enough warning they can make the difference we need and I'll be there to help them along the way."

"That's two years before you were born Katie, aren't you worried about prevented your own birth and fading away or something, like in _Back to the Future_ or _Doctor Who_ or something?"

"If that's the price I have to pay for saving my family and the Earth then so be it. I will pay that cost gladly. The big difference between me and Marty McFly is that I'm not blundering into this accidently. I know exactly what I'm doing; I've done my research o the time and prepared. Well that and Marty was a normal teenager while I'm a super powered soldier who won't hesitate to kill. Oh and I'm a girl and he's not. Come to think of it other than the fact that we're teenagers traveling back in time I really have nothing in common with Marty McFly. That sucks, I like _Back to the Future_." Seamus grinned at her ramblings.

"I suppose I won't be able to talk you out of this crazy scheme?"

"Nope." Katie replied wistfully.

"Well, I'd better get to work then," Seamus said with a sigh, "It'll take me a couple of weeks to finish the ship but what will it matter when you're going to be time traveling?"

"Good that'll give me time to gather supplies for the trip."

"What kind of supplies?"

"Metals mostly, I don't want to go to war unprepared Seamus."

"Right you are Katie, now like I said I'd better get to work on that ship."


	8. Black and White

**Chapter 8: Black and White**

Vin was taking a moonlit Allomantic stroll through the Philadelphia skyline. Iron and steel were a great way to cover distance in a city like this. She was out here to think, night air and Allomancy always helped clear her head, or at least it used to. Ever since she'd come to Earth things had been so different. She'd adapted of course, she was a child of the streets; it was how she'd always lived.

That said the former empress was lost. Here she was, stuck on Earth while Scadrial was under the boot heel of the Galactic Empire and he was powerless to help them. Powerless. That wasn't a new feeling, Vin had felt powerless all the time growing up but she hadn't felt truly helpless like this since Kelsier had taught her Allomancy. The irony that she was now more powerful than she had ever been on Scadrial, except for those times when she'd held the power of Preservation thanks to her training in the Force wasn't lost on her.

Of course that new power came at a price. She'd touched the Dark Side of the Force and it truly frightened her. Now after the fact she felt dirty, like every inch of her needed a good scrubbing but when it had actually happened the power had been intoxicating. That scared Vin. She'd once seen what she could've become; she'd seen it in Elend's brother Zane. The Dark Side made her like that and she never wanted to be like that again.

She knew she had choices to make and that those choices would affect not only her and those immediately around her but the lives of millions, if not billions. While such decisions had become commonplace in her life over the last few years they never became any easier.

The obvious question was whether or not to continue her training in the Force with Galen. If she just stopped using the Force there was no chance of her falling to the Dark Side. How would Galen react to that? Would he still want her around him if she wasn't his apprentice? Vin laughed inwardly at her own question, of course he would, Galen was obviously attracted to her.

That brought up a whole new mess of questions though. Did she really want to be around him given his feelings for her? She thought back to that kiss two nights ago. He'd initiated it, that much was true but she'd kissed him back, if only briefly. What had possessed her to do that? Was she actually attracted to Galen? She was just so confused right now.

Nothing made sense anymore. Her whole life, her previous life rather, could be summed up in a single word: survive. Survive Reen and the underworld. Survive and defeat the Lord Ruler so the skaa could live like people. Survive the Siege of Luthadel. Survive Ruin's onslaught. Now she didn't need to survive, she could actually live. There was no big threat to her life to fight against.

Well that wasn't _exactly_ true, there was the Galactic Empire. They'd taken over Scadrial, her home and needed to be dealt with. They didn't know about her though, they didn't even know about Earth. Her need to defeat the Empire made her decisions for her, she needed Galen to even get off of Earth, let alone strike at the Galactic Empire. Not to mention this wasn't like the Final Empire, it wasn't just one world. It was hundreds if not thousands of them. Just taking out the leaders would only make a mess like the collapse of the Final Empire had, only on a much larger scale. Vin didn't want that much blood on her hands.

Still something had to be done about the Galactic Empire and if she was going to fight an empire that spanned a galaxy run by powerful Sith she honestly didn't whether or not he could defeat with jut her Allomancy, then she would need all the power she could get. She had to continue her Jedi training, she didn't have a choice. She'd just have to figure out a way to deal with Galen's feeling for her, and her feelings for him which may or may not actually exist.

Still no matter how powerful she was or could become Vin knew that the task in front of her was daunting. She wished she had the crew with her; together they had done the impossible several times over and could no doubt do so again. The problem was, they were worlds away and even if she could get to them they were pinned down by the Empire at the moment. She wasn't entirely sure she had the power to free them yet, even with Galen's help.

Maybe everything would've been simpler if she'd just killed Galen when Sazed had asked her too. There was a time when she would have, but that was a time before she met Kelsier. That had been lifetimes ago. Kelsier and the crew had made her a better, more selfless person and she would always be thankful for that but right now she wished she could be just a little more selfish. After all Elend was still waiting for her to return to the afterlife.

Elend, Vin missed her husband most of all. He'd be just as overwhelmed with this situation as she was but having him with her would've made all of this so much easier to bear. As things now stood, she wouldn't be seeing Elend for a long time. He was dead ad she was alive, and she had to fight the Galactic Empire before she could return to the afterlife, she couldn't just leave their friends high and dry.

These facts were probably the reason Galen thought he could make a move on her. That was another reason she wished Elend was here, things would be less confusing in that regard. She loved Elend and if he were around it would be clear to Galen that she was off limits. Without him that door was always open as that kiss had proved. Vin felt sick for betraying Elend like that, but at the same time if she was going to be alive without Elend for some time, as it seemed she was, was there anything wrong with her finding someone else she could love? That is, if she wanted to of course, and she wasn't sure he did right now. Elend would want her to be happy right? She thought so anyway.

Still she missed Elend dearly. He would have loved this place, the United States, but not for the same reasons she did. He wouldn't love it for all the metal in its cities and its technological marvels, oh he'd appreciate those to be sure but other things would captivate him far more. Her husband was a scholar and philosopher at heart, after she'd killed the Lord Ruler he'd been made king of the Central Dominance and tried to institute reform in his kingdom. He'd given the people a voice in the government by allowing them to elect representatives to a parliament who would vote on government actions. Of course after the siege of Luthadel and the release of Ruin idealism had given way to practicality and they'd gone back to an absolute monarchy but he had tried.

America was the embodiment of everything Elend had dreamed of. The people here elected their government who then voted on what to do based on what the people wanted. The Americans had even earned their independence from a tyrannical king and raised themselves from their humble beginnings to become the most powerful nation on Earth. The thought of Elend pouring over this world's history and philosophy books brought a smile to Vin's face. This world had so many books, he would have loved it here and Sazed forbid he ever discover the Internet.

 _"I wish you were here Elend."_ Vin thought longingly. As if Sazed had heard her, and maybe he had given her Hemalurgic spike, a new, powerful presence appeared in her Force sense. She hadn't known about her connection to the Force when she knew this person but she recognized him immediately. Elend was here. She took off at top speed and he could sense him doing the same. It wasn't long before the couple was reunited on the flat roof of an apartment building.

Vin took in the sight of her newly revived husband, he looked just like he had before he died and in the afterlife. He wore his regal white soldier uniform compete with cape, it had been designed to stand out on the ash laden battlefields of Scadrial and did just as good a job standing out here in Philadelphia at night. Hi brown hair was cropped close and his equally brown eyes held clear affection for his wife.

"Hello Vin." He said with a smile.

"Elend what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Sazed sent me. He's been watching Vin; he thinks you need my help." Elend said.

"Elend, I know that my touching the Dark Side is bad; I'm going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"This isn't about that. The Empire is coming to Earth." Vin blanched at this news.

"The Empire is coming here. The earth doesn't stand a chance against them. The gap in technology is too big."

"Earth stands a much better chance than Scadrial. I wouldn't count them out just yet Sazed's been looking into this stuff too. Besides we're going to stay and help them. You know we can't just turn our back on people's suffering." Vin smiled, it was good to have Elend back. He was a good man if anyone could keep honest and away from the Dark Side it was him.

"What about our friends back on Scadrial? The Empire has already invaded there. Shouldn't we go help them? We just need to find Galen's ship and we can get to Scadrial easily enough." Vin thought she saw the briefest flicker of displeasure cross Elend's face when she mentioned Galen. It passed as quickly as it appeared but it was something to watch.

"Our friends are fine; they're safe in the Roughs. The Empire sees them as beneath their notice. We will go help them but it isn't as pressing. Earth needs us more than Scadrial does right now. We might even be getting more help soon." Elend said with a wink.

'More help, who else is coming?"

"Well when I left Kelsier was still trying to convince Sazed to send him. Honestly I hope he succeeds, we can use all the help we can get against the Empire."

Kelsier coming back would be a huge boost to their cause. This was the man who plotted the downfall of the Final Empire. He', along with his crew, had done the impossible more times than people could count. While the crew had done the majority of the leg work Kelsier himself was not above getting his hands dirty, if anyone could take down the Galactic Empire it was Kelsier.

The news of the Empire coming to Earth was far too grave to allow her to reminisce for very long about her mentor and father figure. The smile thought of him brought to her lips was fleeting. It was time to get down to business.

"We'd better go to my apartment. If the Empire is coming Galen will want to hear about right away." Vin said. That flicker of displeasure once again made itself known on Elend's face but like before it disappeared quickly. He gave her a smile that seemed only slightly forced. Elend moved in to kiss her which Vin returned eagerly but oddly she found it didn't feel the same as it once did. It was still good but somehow just didn't feel _right_ anymore. Here she was thinking that having Elend around would make things easier. Well he was here now and she'd only become more confused as a result. That was just perfect. Her life could never be easy could it?

"Lead the way Vin, I've been looking forward to meeting Galen Marek anyway." As Vin lead Elend back to the apartment she was overcome by a feeling of dread. This was Elend, there was no doubt in her mind about that but he seemed annoyed every time she mentioned Galen. Did he know about the kiss? That would certainly explain his annoyance. If he did indeed know about it then hi meeting with Galen wasn't going to be pleasant. Vin would've preferred to avoid such confrontation if at all possible but she needed both of them. Plus, if Elend _didn't_ know about the kiss she wasn't about to bring it up. Still she had the sinking feeling that this was going to be a long night.

 

* * *

 

 

Elend took in Vin and Galen's apartment was a discerning eye. He was going to be living here for some time so he wanted to get the lay of the land. To him this place was a mess of contradictions, at least when filtered through hi cultural lens. On the whole the place was smaller than a skaa hovel, but that made sense on some level it wasn't meant for a large number of people. Still back home in the Final Empire members of the nobility would get chambers with many rooms, each one bigger than this apartment and of course this place didn't have maids to keep it clean, that was left up to the occupants.

Yet this place was just as immaculate as any nobleman's keep in the Final Empire, if not more. This small apartment had luxuries no one in the Final Empire had ever dreamed of like running water and central heating. Earth was an interesting place indeed; he could learn to like it here.

There were more important things to worry about at the moment though. Not the least of which was the man in front of him. Galen Marek. The man who was trying to steal his wife. The object of his loathing, a lanky man in all black, was sitting in some sort of soft reclining chair when he entered the room.

"Oh Vin, you're back, would you like to continue my Allomancy training," Galen started before catching sight of Elend, "Who is this?"

"This is my husband Elend Venture," Vin introduced, "Sazed sent him he's got some news that you should hear." Elend saw the other man's eyes widen slightly and smirked inwardly.

 _"That's right pal all of your plans for getting together with my wife end right here."_ He thought. Elend burned zinc and Rioted Galen's intimidation. He wasn't as subtle as Vin when it came to the emotional metals, nowhere near it in fact. Vin, like Breeze before her used zinc and brass like a paintbrush, using subtle strokes to achieve striking and brilliant effects. Elend well he used them more like a sledgehammer, it was more powerful yes, Elend was more powerful than Vin Allomantically due to how he got his powers but he lacked the subtlety and artistry of other Mistborn. Galen would likely be able to figure out what he was doing, especially since he was already familiar with Allomancy from being around Vin. For Elend's purpose though the sledgehammer approach suited him just fine right now, he was marking his territory after all.

To his credit Galen didn't seem all that intimidated. Either he was burning copper or he just wasn't intimidated by Elend. It seemed to be the latter as he did notice the influence of Elend's zinc as evidenced by a slight narrowing of his eye. So that was how it was going to be was it? Fine he could pay this game for a while, he'd already won; Vin was his wife and not Galen's after all.

"So what's this news that's so important that Elend had to come back to life to deliver it?" Galen was obviously trying to keep the edge out of his voice and he wasn't completely successful. Vin gave him a reproachful look and Elend had to use every ounce of the training Twindyl had given him to not look smug.

"My news, well that's simple," Elend said, "The Empire is coming to Earth. We need to be ready for a fight. Well Vin and I do, you can feel free to find your little ship and leave."

"Elend!" Vin scolded.

"I'm sorry Vin but you've got to know he's thinking it. Earth s just some primitive backwater to him and he's got a life back in his galaxy I'm sure he wants to get back to. There's no point in asking him to fight a fight his heart isn't in."

"I'll have you know I am quite dedicated to this fight," Galen shot back, "The Empire is run by the Sith, the people who made my life hell. I'd love nothing more than to bring them and the Empire down to their knees. I will defend anyone and anywhere that's attacked by them. Beside I still need to be trained n Alomancy and Vin could use some more training in the ways of the Force."

"I see, well Galen may I speak with you in private, and by private I mean no eavesdropping with tin Vin."

"Elend I won't let you do this…" Vin protested. Of course she knew what was going to happen. Vin was too smart not to know.

"I'm sorry Vin but it's something that has to be done."

"It's alright I can take care of myself Vin, you know that. I'm not scared of Elend Venture," Galen then turned to him, "Let's go." The two men stepped out of the apartment making it very clear to the woman caught in the middle that they didn't want to be followed. They then walked a fair distance away from the apartment building before Elend spoke.

"I assume you know why I wanted to talk to you Galen?" It was more a statement than a question.

"I can hazard a guess." Galen replied.

"Good that makes things simple," Elend said, "You may have thought it was k to flirt with and even kiss my wife while I wasn't around but that stops now. Am I clear?"

"Are you feeling threatened by me?" Galen asked with a smirk.

"Threatened why would I need to feel threatened? You've already lost, Vin's my wife. I'm just letting you know I won't tolerate this anymore."

"I think you do feel threatened, otherwise you wouldn't be trying to intimidate me. You're afraid you might actually lose her because she kissed me back."

"Even if that were true our marriage was performed in such a way that there is no possibility of divorce. The matter is closed."

"Is it on record?" Galen asked.

"…No."

"Good luck getting that to hold up in a court then. If there's no record of it then it didn't happen. Vin can do whatever she wants."

"She wants to be with me Galen."

"Then you have nothing to worry about if that's true." Elend sighed.

"Look, I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot, I love Vin, maybe I am just a little scared of losing her to you but right now we have to work together. Stopping the Empire is more important than this. Vin's an amazing woman and I certainly can't fault you for being attracted to her without coming off like a hypocrite. If anyone can stop the Empire it's her. She's toppled gods after all, but she's going to need both our help to do it. Beside I'm pretty sure she wasn't too impressed with our animosity. It's better for everyone involved if we just bury the hatchet now."

"You're right of course. We're going to be in for the fight of our lives soon; we don't have time for petty romantic squabbles. She'll probably choose to stay with you anyway," Galen admitted, "but that won't stop me from trying." The Jedi finished with a smirk on his face.

"I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it." Elend said offering his hand as a sign of good faith which Galen took without hesitation. A truce had been made, it was temporary true, but it was something. As a politician Elend could count this as a victory.

The next night Galen, Elend, and Vin were all standing on the roof of the apartment building. It was time for Allomancy training. When they'd started two nights ago Vin had warned him that her training methods were a bit extreme and maybe to other people they were but to someone who had been trained by Darth Vader for most of their jumping off a skyscraper to learn ironpulling and steelpushing was par for the course. In truth he'd picked up the basics of the Allomantic skill almost immediately, they shared many core concepts with the powers of the Force.

Tonight would be interesting simply due to the addition of Elend. It would be quite telling to see how he altered the dynamic. From what Galen understood, Allomantically Elend was more powerful than Vin due to him acquiring his powers by burning Lerasium. Galen had also acquired his Allomancy in this way and thus in terms of raw power he and Elend were equal. Elend had more practice with the powers than he did but he lacked finesse or so Vin had said. Galen had that finesse honed from years of using his Jedi powers.

"Alright," Vin said, "I want you two to spar with each other and no Force powers Galen."

"Actually let him use them," Elend said, "I'm curious about what you'll be able to do when your training and besides Galen hasn't had enough practice with Allomancy for him to be able hold his own."

"Well if you want to get your butt kicked that's fine by me." Galen said with a cocky smirk. He knew he could win this when using the powers in tandem. Elend had no idea what he was capable of. The poor sap wasn't even Force sensitive; he had no idea what he was getting into.

"Fine if that's what you two want." Vin said rolling her eyes.

The two men moved as if on an unspoken cue Pushing away from each other with steel and sailing in opposite directions, mistcloaks flapping in the breeze. Galen landed on the roof of a nearby house and burned pewter, the sensation of burning was still an odd one for him, but not uncomfortable or unwelcome. Galen kept moving he knew he had more stamina than Elend, if he could get his opponent to use up his metals chasing him victory would be all the simpler.

Things kept at that pace for about half an hour the two of them on a merry chase through the skyline with Vin keeping pace. Finally Elend got impatient and steelpushed a handful of coins at him. In truth Galen almost missed them. Philadelphia was so full of metal that it was sometimes hard to distinguish one blue line from another. Vin didn't seem to have any such problems but she was an experienced Mistborn. Elend having more experience with Allomancy than Galen likely found it easier as well. That was one advantage the Jedi grudgingly admitted his rival had over him.

Still he needed to do something about those coins. Galen flared his steel and Pushed against the incoming projectiles. With hid and Elend's Allomantic weight being about equal the two were once again sent flying away from each other. He felt Elend's Push stop meaning the coins that had previously been sandwiched in midair were now moving directly away from Galen due to the power of his Pushing. Elend wasn't there to be hit. The second he'd stopped his steelpush Elend had Pulled on a nearby building to get out of the way of the coins.

The sheer speed at which his opponent was able to do this amazed Galen. It was quite obvious now that this battle wasn't going to be won by coins; they would have to get in close. Elend must have realized this too as he was heading straight for him. The two of them met on the top of a skyscraper.

Weirdly in sync both men unsheathed their glass daggers. Normally Galen would've used his lightsaber's training mode which only produced a light sting when it hit but it would be useless against a Mistborn with its metal hilt. Not holding back for a second Galen charged in with pewter enhanced Force Speed. Elend Pushed off of the roof to dodge his attack. Galen stopped immediately and tried to bring the other man down with a Force Pull. To his surprise Elend decided to work with his pull instead of against it and slammed right into Galen.

After the pair had disentangled themselves from one another the battle commenced again. This time Galen made not only full use of his speed but his battle precognition abilities. With the ability to predict Elend's movements and his superior speed Galen took full control of the battle landing several punishing hits. That is until his precognition started showing him several visions.

"Electrum," Galen said as he realized what was happening, "I'm impressed Elend you were able to figure out what was going on rather quickly and counter it."

"Not quickly enough," Elend said with a self-effacing chuckle, "In a real battle I'd be dead right now. This isn't the first time I've battled someone with precognition, once I figured out what was happening it was easy to counter." The two of them were about to continue when they were cut off by a rumbling in the sky. Both of them and Vin, who hadn't lost track of them this entire time burned tin and looked up. It was difficult to make out against the bright stars but it appeared that something metal was falling to Earth and Galen could see that it wasn't of local manufacture.

"That's from my galaxy." Galen said for the benefit of the other two. The trio tracked it until it landed several blocks away.

"Alright then this sparring match is canceled," Vin declared, "We need to figure out why that thing is here." With no further preamble Vin led the way.


End file.
